UltraTech Cement Receives Notice From CCI On Proposed Acquisition Of India Cements

UltraTech Cement Ltd. on Monday received communication from Competition Commission of India regarding the proposed acquisition of India Cements Ltd. The company said that it will respond to the CCI regarding the same.

"We are confident of the merits of our case," the cement company said in an exchange filing on Friday. The company also added that it had received the notice from the CCI on Dec. 5.

India Cements said in a separate exchange filing on Friday that it has initiated the process to respond to CCI in this regard. "We believe that we will be able to satisfy any concerns the CCI may have as the cement market is extremely competitive," the company added.

UltraTech Cement as of September 2024 held 22.77% stake in Indian Cements, according to BSE.

The Aditya Birla group's flagship company in July had announced to acquire 32.72% stake in India Cements from its promoters and their associates for Rs 3,954 crore to expand its footprint in the Southern cement market, particularly in Tamil Nadu.

It had entered into share purchase agreements for a 28.42% stake from promoters Srinivasan N, Chitra Srinivasan, Rupa Gurunath and S K Asokh Baalaje and a 4.30% share from Sri Saradha Logistics.

The Aditya Birla Group flagship company's proposed shareholding after the acquisition would have increased to 55.49%, mandating it to go for the open offer, as per the SEBI regulations.

Following this, the company had announced an open offer of Rs 3,124.25 crore to acquire 26% of stake in India Cements from its shareholders.

The offer was subject to regulatory approvals and will be on hold till approval from CCI.

Before this, UltraTech had acquired a non-controlling stake of around 23% in India Cements from Radhakishan Damani and his associated entities, at around Rs 1,900 crore.

Shares of UltraTech Cement fell as much as 0.96% during the day to Rs 11,818 apiece on the NSE. The stock closed 0.71% lower at Rs 11,848.50 per share. This compares with a 0.12% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50. It has risen 28.61% in the last 12 months.

Similarly, the share of India Cement fell as much as 2.24% during the day to Rs 358 apiece on the NSE. The stock closed 1.67% lower at Rs 360 per share. This compares with a 0.12% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50. The stock has risen 42.71% in the last 12 months.