Holcim Group has made an open offer to acquire 306,553,600 shares, representing 20 per cent equity shares of Ambuja Cements Ltd., at Rs 154 per share.
It acquired 3.9 per cent stake from the promoters of Ambuja Cements at Rs 154 per share for around $ 220 million.
Prior to the latest developments, Holcim held 32.3 per cent in Ambuja Cements. After the recent acquisition and if the open offer gets successful, its stake in Ambuja Cement will go up to 56 per cent.
The total investment of $ 1.34 billion for the take over would be financed entirely through internal resources and existing credit facilities.
Ambuja Cements will be increasing its annual cement capacity from 18 to 21 million tonnes by the end of the year. An additional five million tonne are under construction in Bhatapara (State of Chhattisgarh) and Rauri (Himachal Pradesh), which will come on stream in 2009.
Holcim had earlier made open offer at Rs 90 per share and Rs 115 per share but failed as investors felt the offer price was below their expectations.
The new offer price is at a premium of 13% to the current market price.
Source: Economic Times