Gilbertson out to curry City favour

BRIAN Gilbertson, the former fat-cat chief executive of BHP Billiton, has revealed plans for the first float of an Indian business on the London Stock Exchange.

He has teamed up with Indian metals and mining guru Anil Agarwal to set up Vedanta Resources, a holding company they expect to list at £2bn.

Vedanta will own a majority stake in Agarwal's Indian mining empire Sterlite Resources, a group with interests in copper, aluminium and zinc production across India and Australia.

Gilbertson, who quit BHP Billiton in January after just six months as chief executive with a £4m golden goodbye, will chair the board.

Industry sources say he is keen to plug the gap between mining giants such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American, and second-tier firms such as Xstrata. The company wants to raise $700m (£418m) through the share offering, jointly co-ordinated by JP Morgan and HSBC.

Chief executive Agarwal said: 'Vedanta's position gives it a strong platform to benefit from India's mineral wealth and its dynamic economic growth. Its decision to list in London will enable investors from around the world to share the benefits of the expected growth in the Indian mining and metals markets.'