“The Ultratech Board has given an in-principle approval to the merger. We have appointed a valuer, Bansi Mehta & Co. We hope the whole process to take anywhere between 7-8 months or nine months at maximum to complete,” Birla said here. Group company Grasim Industries had last week decided to spin off its cement business into a subsidiary called Samruddhi Cement, which would be listed in the market for a short time, after receiving the court approval.
After the listing, it would be merged with Ultratech Cement and the new entity would be the 10th largest cement maker in the world and the largest in the country with a capacity of 49 million tonnes per annum or 20 per cent of the country’s cement production.
Post the merger (Samruddhi and UltraTech), Grasim’s holding in the consolidated entity would be somewhere between 55 per cent and 65 per cent. Grasim shareholders would hold 35 per cent in Samruddhi post demerger.
Published 07 October 2009, 15:28 IST