 "UltraTech to sell 6.49% stake in India Cements worth Rs 745 cr via OFS")
UltraTech Cement, India’s largest cement maker, has announced that it will sell its 6.49 per cent stake in India Cements through an offer for sale (OFS) via the stock exchange mechanism.
UltraTech’s committee of directors and officers, at its meeting held on Wednesday, approved the sale of up to 20,112,330 equity shares of India Cements. The 6.49 per cent stake is valued at Rs 745 crore, based on the company’s total valuation of Rs 11,466 crore as of Wednesday.
In July 2024, UltraTech acquired a 32.72 per cent stake in India Cements for Rs 3,954 crore, in addition to its earlier 22.77 per cent stake for which the company had invested Rs 1,889 crore. The two deals gave UltraTech a majority stake of 55.49 per cent in India Cements.
On February 4, 2025, UltraTech Cement acquired about 8.06 crore additional equity shares (26 per cent stake) of India Cements from public shareholders through its open offer. With this, UltraTech’s holding in the company rose from 55.49 per cent to 81.49 per cent, reducing public shareholding to 18.51 per cent.
As per regulatory requirements, UltraTech must restore minimum public shareholding within 12 months, i.e. by February 3, 2026.
The acquisition of India Cements added a capacity of 14.45 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to UltraTech’s portfolio. The Kumar Mangalam Birla-promoted firm’s cement capacity stood at 192.26 mtpa at the end of the first quarter of FY26 (Q1 FY26). UltraTech is targeting a cement capacity of 200 mtpa by FY26.
In Q1 FY26, UltraTech’s consolidated net profit surged 48.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 2,226 crore, supported by a 9.7 per cent Y-o-Y rise in sales volumes to 36.83 million tonnes and improved realisations, which grew 2.4 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 5,165 per tonne amid an all-India cement price rise of 6 per cent.
UltraTech’s shares closed at Rs 12,860 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), while those of India Cements closed at Rs 370.