Birla Corp completes buy of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Cement

Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure has completed the sale of its 100 per cent shareholding in Reliance Cement Company (RCCPL) to Birla Corporation, the flagship Company of the MP Birla Group.

RInfra in February this year had announced the deal whereby Birla had agreed to buy the cement business for Rs 4,800 crore at a valuation of USD 140 a tonne. “The deal was announced in February 2016 and has now been completed with transfer of shares and receipt of sale consideration,” RInfra said in a statement issued here on Monday.

“The entire proceeds shall be utilised for debt reduction,” it said. RCCPL has an integrated cement capacity of 5.08 MTPA at Maihar, Madhya Pradesh and Kundanganj, Uttar Pradesh and a grinding unit of 0.5 Mtpa at Butibori, Maharashtra. RInfra had earlier announced its plan to monetise cement, roads and Mumbai power businesses to reduce the overall debt. This transaction will boost Birla Corp’s capacity from 10 MTPA to 15.5 MTPA.

“The closure of cement deal is a significant milestone in this direction,” the company said. SBI Capital Markets Limited acted as the financial advisors to RInfra for this transaction. RInfra’s scrip today ended at 590.4, down 0.60 per cent on the BSE. 

M P Birla group company Birla Corporation, meanwhile, in a statement today said it has completed the purchase of cement business of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.

“The company has acquired 100 per cent shares of Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (Reliance Cement), a subsidiary of RIL,” Birla Corporation said in a statement.