...SINGAPORE (Standard & Poor's) June 15, 2015--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that a proposed merger between two Vedanta group companies will improve cash fungibility within the group. The merger is a step in Vedanta's group simplification process. We expect the proposed merger between Vedanta Ltd. and Cairn India Ltd. to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2016 at the earliest. Cairn India is an oil and gas company majority owned by Vedanta Ltd., which is an intermediate holding company majority owned by Vedanta Resources PLC (Vedanta Resources: foreign currency ##-/Negative/--). "In our view, the financial performance of Vedanta Resources PLC would gradually strengthen because of greater cash fungibility, and improving cash flow adequacy and leverage after the merger," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Mehul Sukkawala. "We expect the improvement in financial performance to lower the downside rating pressure on the company. But for now, the operating performance...
