Shree Cement buys Jaypee Cement unit for Rs 358 crore

Shree Cement has completed the acquisition of a cement-grinding unit of Jaiprakash Associates for Rs 358 crore.

The acquisition of the 1.5-million-tonnes-per-annum (mtpa) unit of Jaiprakash Associates, situated at Panipat, has been consummated, Shree Cement said in a filing to the BSE on Monday.

In August last year, the board of Jaiprakash Associates had approved the sale of the unit on a going concern basis to Shree Cement.

After this transaction, Jaypee Cement continues to be India's third largest manufacturer, with an aggregate capacity of over 29 million tonnes a year.

After the acquisition, Shree Cement's capacity stands at 19 mtpa, with facilities in Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar, and Haryana. The company sells cement under the brand name of Shree Ultra and Bangur.

In September 2014, fair trade watchdog  Competition Commission of India had cleared the deal and noted that after the transaction, the market share of Shree Cement will go up by three per cent to 26 per cent.

In 2013, India's largest cement maker, UltraTech Cement, had acquired the Gujarat cement unit of Jaypee Cement Corporation for Rs 3,800 crore.

Shares of Shree Cement on Monday closed at Rs 9,947 apiece on the BSE, down by 0.5 per cent over the previous close.