Through the deal, Damani and his controlled entities bagged around Rs 1,914 crore.UltraTech is the largest cement manufacturer in India with the pan-India capacity market share of about 23% in FY24.
"Particularly in South India, there has been a lot of stress.
And because of overcapacity and cement prices were not remunerative enough, so companies like India Cements were making losses.
Pricing is also expected to improve once demand recovers substantially from 2HFY25E," the brokerage said.On Thursday, shares of India Cements rallied over 11% following the news of Ultratech's acquisition.
Meanwhile, Ultratech Cement's stock was up about 5.45%.
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Ace investor Radhakishan Damani and related entities sold around 6.91 crore shares or about 24% stake in India Cements to Ultratech Cement through a block deal.The total stake sold by Damani and his entities comes to around 24% and the sale was done at an average price of Rs 277 apiece. Through the deal, Damani and his controlled entities bagged around Rs 1,914 crore.UltraTech is the largest cement manufacturer in India with the pan-India capacity market share of about 23% in FY24. In the last 12 months, the company has added nearly 19 million tonnes of capacity and plans to add more than 35 million tonnes of capacity across 16 locations by spending Rs 32,400 crore on capital expenditure over three years.The cement giant has a consolidated capacity of 152.7 million tonnes per Annum (MTPA) of grey cement. It has 24 integrated manufacturing units, 33 grinding units, one clinkerisation unit and 8 bulk packaging terminals.UltraTech's stake in Chennai-based India Cements pits it against Adani group's Ambuja and ACC cement companies for gaining ground in terms of market share .Analysts said both Adani and UltraTech have been trying to gain market share and hence consolidation in the cement industry has been ongoing process now."Particularly in South India, there has been a lot of stress. And because of overcapacity and cement prices were not remunerative enough, so companies like India Cements were making losses. So, it is a matter of time that these guys get consolidated by the larger players," said Rakesh Arora, Founder, Go India Stocks.India Cements' turnover for financial year 2023-24 stood at Rs 5,112 crore.Analysts at brokerage Prabhudas said the competition is expected to increase in the cement industry with players trying to gain market share.Near term demand remains muted and expected to improve post monsoon. Pricing is also expected to improve once demand recovers substantially from 2HFY25E," the brokerage said.On Thursday, shares of India Cements rallied over 11% following the news of Ultratech's acquisition. Meanwhile, Ultratech Cement's stock was up about 5.45%.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
