PRU-ICICI,
DSP MERRILL BUY 7.4% OF OCL INDIA
Prudential ICICI
and DSP Merrill Lynch have together acquired a 7.4% stake
in Orissabased cement and refractory manufacturer, OCL India,
for a consideration of Rs 40 crore.
Prudential ICICI
and DSP Merrill Lynch bought the shares from the Dalmia group
- the promoters of OCL - through the open market route. Following
the deal, the shareholdingof thepromoters has declined from
74.96% to 7.6%.BothPrudentialICICIand DSP Merrill Lynch acquired
the OCLequity for Rs 140 per share.
OCL, the producer
of the Konark brand of cement, is the leadingcement producer
inOrissa with a capacity of 1.3 million tonnes.Thecompanyis
alsoamajor refractory manufacturer with an annual capacity
of around 80,000 tonnes.Besides,OCLhas a spongeiron unit withacapacity
of 1.2 lakh tonnes per annum.
During the past
one week, the OCL sharepricehas beendipping fromRs 168.55per
shareonSeptember 15 to Rs 153.15 per share on September 21.
Today, OCL share prices closed at Rs 142.40 .
OCL, which is planning
to increaseits cement capacity from the current 1.3 million
tonnes to 2million tonnes, has a manufacturing facility at
Rajgangpur near Rourkela.Thecompanyis also setting upa steel
unit is in this region. Currently, banks and financial institutional
own a 0.78% stake in OCL while the public and others together
controlaround 24%.
Orissa, where OCL
is the market leader, has been among the fastest-growingcement
markets in the eastern region. During April-July 05, cement
consumption in the stategrew by 9.6% to1.44million tonnes.BargarhCement
(formerly Idcol Cement), which is set tobemerged withACC,is
the second-largest playerin the state.
