N Srinivasan Steps Down as UltraTech Acquires Majority Stake in India Cements

UltraTech Cement acquired a 32.72% stake in India Cements Ltd (ICL) to move one step further for the enlargement of its southern cement markets. This acquisition from promoter shareholders is valued at ₹3,954 Crore, for which an additional 10.13 crore equity shares consideration was paid. It has become a subsidiary of UltraTech as of December 24, 2024, with UltraTech holding 55.49% shareholding.

After the acquisition, N Srinivasan, with family members counted among them, resigned from the board of directors of India Cements.

These include his daughter Rupa Gurunath, wife Chitra Srinivasan, and VM Mohan. The company also announced the resignation of independent directors S Balasubramanian Adityan, Krishna Srivastava, Lakshmi Aparna Sreekumar, and Sandhya Rajan, effective December 25, 2024.

To solidify its control, UltraTech has appointed four new directors to the India Cements board: KC Jhanwar, Vivek Agrawal, E R Raj Narayanan, and Ashok Ramachandran. Additionally, three independent directors, Alka Bharucha, Vikas Balia, and Sukanya Kripalu, have also joined the board.

This merger is approved by the Competition Commission of India and follows a robust transaction wherein UltraTech bought 23% of ICL shares from the Damani Group at ₹1,900 crore. Further, the company made an open offer to buy 26% contributing the paid-up equity capital of ICL, which is estimated to be valued at ₹3,142.35 crore.

This consolidation in the Indian cement industry would be one among several among their rivals, Adani Group and UltraTech Cement. Adani Cement plans on ramping up its production capacity to 140 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by FY28, while UltraTech is determined to preserve its leadership with a 200 MTPA projection by FY27.