Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure on 4th, February 2016 sold its cement subsidiary to Birla Corp for Rs 4,800 crore at a valuation of $140 a tonne.
Reliance Cement has a capacity of 5.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. While the transaction will boost Birla Corp?s capacity from 10 mtpa to 15.5 mtpa, the flagship company of M P Birla group will still not be among India?s top five cement companies.
"Reliance Cement fits our plans to grow the business profitably very well and offers lucrative prospects for creating synergy with existing operations." said Harsh V Lodha, chairman, Birla Corp.
RInfra said, "The transaction is subject to approval of the Competition Commission of India and other appl?cable regulatory approvals." Reliance Infrastructure had consolidated debt of Rs 25,800 crore at the end of the last financial year and is selling several assets to improve financial health. The group had announced plans to raise Rs 14,000 crore by selling cement and road assets by March 2017.