Sesa Goa completes Vedanta’s acquisition of Cairn Energy’s India operations

British oil explorer Cairn Energy Plc on Thursday said it has completed the sale of a controlling stake in its Indian unit to the Anil Agarwal-promoted mining company Vedanta Resources Plc, after a protracted wrangle over royalty payments from the Rajasthan oil fields, Cairn's richest Indian find.

Cairn Energy, which had in July sold a 10-per cent stake in Cairn India to Vedanta for about $1.4 billion, got another $4.1 billion from the sale of the remaining 30 per cent, the company said in a press statement.

"Cairn is pleased to announce that the transaction has now completed," it said.

Sesa Goa, a unit of Vedanta, had said on Wednesday that it has raised its stake in Cairn India to 20 per cent following the acquisition of 28.8 million additional shares, amounting to a 1.5 per cent stake.

The Vedanta Group now holds 60 per cent in Cairn India, while Cairn Energy retains about 22 per cent.

The transaction was originally announced in August last year, but its completion was delayed as Oil and Natural Gas Corp, which partners Cairn India in the Rajasthan fields as well as seven other properties, demanded an equitable sharing of the royalty it pays the government before the deal was cleared.