Vedanta AGM: These are the top questions short seller Viceroy wants analysts to ask Anil Agarwal
The 87-page report made serious allegations against the Vedanta Group, including financial misconduct and misrepresentation, manipulating asset prices, raising off-balance sheet loans, and corporate governance lapses. The Vedanta Group has denied any wrong-doing, and called report a sensationalisation of publicly available information.
However, Viceroy is not making things easy for Agarwal. On Wednesday it shared a list of 37 questions with sell-side analysts covering the company, a copy of which Mint has seen.
Here are the top questions that Viceroy wants analysts and investors to ask Vedanta.
Conext: VEDL pays 3% of its revenue as brand fee to VRL, as per an investor presentation from the latter. The rate is 1.7% for Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) and between 0.75-3% for other subsidiaries.
Context: VEDL and HZL pay brand fees to the parent at the start of the year, based on revenue projections. If the actual revenue during the year is below projection, VRL returns the excess. There is no interest charged on these payments.
Context: Vedanta Resources conducted a bond restructuring in late 2023 and early 2024 under which it delayed the maturity of many of its outstanding commercial papers with a cumulative principal of about $3.2 billion. The exercise was done to reduce its immediate interest and loan repayment burden. It raised $1.25 billion from a private credit facility to pay the bond restructuring fees.
The company had put on the block its domestic iron ore business, assets in Liberia, and its steel unit ESL Steel Ltd to pay the principal while brand fees from operating companies were to service interest payments. However, the sale has not been made so far.
Context: Naidoo took over as the CEO of London-based VRL in January 2025, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is based in Canada.
What has Vedanta said?
The Vedanta Group has categorically denied all of Viceroy's allegations.
In a statement, it said the Viceroy report was 'a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations to discredit the group. It has been issued without making any attempt to contact us with the sole objective (of) creating false propaganda."
The report was a mere compilation of publicly available information, it added, 'but the authors have tried to sensationalise the context to profiteer from market reaction".
Vedanta also cast suspicion upon the timing of the report, which was released just a day before the VEDL AGM. The report could be an effort to 'undermine the forthcoming corporate initiatives," it said, likely referring to the ongoing demerger of Vedanta Limited into five separately listed companies.
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