After several rejections, a 100-km cycle ride with investors helped Anil Agarwal with Vedanta LSE listing

They say rejections and failures are the first steps to success, and who knows it better than Anil Agarwal?
As part of his weekly inspirational updates, the Vedanta Resources Limited Chairman recalled the time he was desperate to get his company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

In 2003, his dream finally came true when Agarwal became the first Indian to list his company on the London bourse. But, this process took a lot of hard work.

In his detailed LinkedIn post, the mining boss revealed that he had to face several rejections and hurdles before the company finally got the recognition it deserved.

Also read: Anil Agarwal became 1st Indian to list Vedanta on London bourse in 2003. How his journey started

Before his LSE listing, Agarwal had to meet a number of company owners, lawyers, bankers and investors in London. While they liked his vision, they weren't willing to take a risk with the Vedanta founder since he was a 'first-time' entrepreneur.

"I got rejected 90% of the time. I was told that my vision is good, but it was a big risk for them as I was a first-timer," he wrote in his post.

In an attempt to show what his country and company had to offer the world, the businessman realised he had to work twice as hard to gain their trust. When he met top investors at that time from JP Morgan, Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) and Linklaters at a networking event, he knew this was his one true chance to make it happen.

The investors were planning a cycling trip. British investment banker and Hannam & Partners founder Ian Hannam decided to challenge Agarwal to join them for the ride. The cycle ride was 100-kilometre-long to Oxford, but the billionaire businessman said 'yes' right away.

Agarwal recounted the ride as the hardest moment, physically, in his life. "I am not very sporty, so after a few hours, I could barely continue. I don’t think I have ever felt that much pain, but the thought of not having my company listed here pained me more, so I pedalled even faster," he shared in his note.

Despite the injuries he incurred at the end of the trip, he had the biggest smile on his face. "I had just made new bonds with some of the top leaders in the business - what else could I have asked for…," the happy boss added.

This was just the beginning of something great for Agarwal. As more doors opened, he decided to give people a taste of India. He, along with his wife Kiran, hosted grand lunches with a widespread menu for people who were helping him with the listing. "As they say, the window to a person’s heart is through food, and what better way to impress someone than with our Indian food," he shared.

From feeding Indian delicacies to planning cycling trips, Agarwal made sure he did everything that would make the investors confident about him and his company's potential. "I would spend countless days and nights working on what most people would call a lost cause. Kiran would wait for me to come back home, and we would eat dinner together. Some nights we would laugh and talk about our days, but some nights I would be so tired that I would fall asleep at the dinner table," Agarwal recalled memories from the good ol' days.

"And one day, all of it paid off! My track record of turning loss-making businesses into profitable ones impressed them and my dreams came true," he said in his post.

In 2003, Vedanta became the first Indian company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange and became the top news worldwide. He started receiving appreciation from his family as all lauded him for making India proud.

In the end, Agarwal urged all dreamers to go beyond the 'four walls' of their conference room to build meaningful business relationships. "Cycle even if you are not the sporty type, believe in your dreams even if people tell you otherwise, and truly enjoy the journey you are on…," he concluded.

However, in October 2018, Vedanta Resources formally delisted from the London bourses amid protests outside its final annual general meeting. The move came as a group of around 50-60 protesters, coordinated by grassroots organisations Foil Vedanta and Anti Sterlite People's Movement, gathered outside the company's final meeting in London to demand justice for the 13 protesters who died at Vedanta's copper smelter in Tamil Nadu in May the same year.

This February, Agarwal started a weekly feature on his personal and professional life on social media platforms. During his updates, he has been sharing his life experiences of arriving in Mumbai to build a career, financial struggles, and entrepreneurial ambitions, among other things.