RInfra up 7% on deal with Birla Corp; group stocks also gain

Shares of Reliance Infrastructure and other group companies today surged as much as 7 per cent after RInfra sold its cement business arm to Birla Corporation for Rs 4,800 crore, a deal that will help the Anil Ambani-led Group lower its debt burden.
Reliance Infra's stock jumped 6.75 per cent to settle at Rs 437.50 on the BSE. During the day, it soared 8.18 per cent to Rs 443.40.
Buying was also seen in other group stocks, where Reliance Capital climbed 6.10 per cent, Reliance Communications gained 4.63 per cent and Reliance Power rose by 3.99 per cent.
Shares of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering too went up by 2.45 per cent.

"RInfra announced the signing of share purchase agreement with Birla Corporation Limited, the flagship company of the M P Birla Group, in relation to 100 per cent sale of its subsidiary RCCPL," the Reliance Group company said in a statement yesterday.
"The deal values cement business at Rs 4,800 crore at USD 140/tonne," it said, adding that the proceeds will be utilised for debt reduction.
RCCPL has an integrated cement capacity of 5.08 million tonne per annum (MTPA) at Maihar, Madhya Pradesh and Kundanganj, Uttar Pradesh and a grinding unit of 0.5 Mtpa at Butibori, Maharashtra.