DMart owner seeks to takeover India Cements
„ D-Mart owner keen on friendly takeover
Radhakishan Damani, the tycoon who built a fortune rolling out his supermarkets across the country, is considering acquiring a controlling stake in India Cements Ltd, people familiar with the matter said.
Damani, the owner of Avenue Supermarts Ltd, has informally reached out to the cement maker’s controlling shareholder, N. Srinivasan, to explore a takeover, the people said, asking not to be named as the matter is not public.
Srinivasan, who controls about 29 per cent of the Chennai-based cement firm, is also exploring other investors to ward off any hostile bids, the people said, adding Damani has promised a friendly change in management and isn't seeking a hostile takeover. No decision has been made on how Damani and
Srinivasan will proceed, the people said.
A representative for Avenue Supermarts declined to comment, while a spokesperson for India Cements said the information isn't correct, without elaborating.
The retail tycoon and his family have been piling on shares of India Cements for some months, and their holdings quadrupled this year to about 20 per cent as of March 31, exchange filings show. Shares of the cement company jumped as much as 11 per cent on Wednesday in Mumbai, the biggest intraday gain in a month. They have surged
92 per cent this year, boosting the market value to about $555 million.
A successful deal may help Damani diversify his holdings while India Cements would get a backer with deep pockets to gear it up against rivals like UltraTech Cement Ltd and LafargeHolcim Ltd.
Raised in a one-room apartment in a Mumbai tenement block, Damani has seen his wealth swell
$2.8 billion this year to
$12.5 billion, defying the pandemic-led stock meltdown and making him India's fourth-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The 74-year-old cement manufacturer had 10 factories as of 2019 in Indian states including Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.