CSK ownership to be unaffected by India Cements sale

According to sources familiar with the matter, the transaction will not impact the controlling shareholding of CSK, where Srinivasan and his family currently hold a 28.14 percent stake.

In a formal exchange filing, UltraTech Cement confirmed that its board had approved the purchase of a 32.72 percent stake in India Cements from its promoters and associates. This acquisition follows UltraTech’s initial purchase of a 22.77 percent stake in June at Rs 268 per share. The latest transaction, valued at Rs 3,954 crore at Rs 390 per share, will elevate UltraTech’s ownership in India Cements to 55.49 percent, triggering a mandatory open offer at the same price per share.

The most recent annual report of CSK lists seven promoters: EWS Finance and Investments (21.47 percent), Rupa Gurunath as trustee of the Financial Services Trust and Securities Services Trust (6.48 percent), N. Srinivasan (0.14 percent), Chitra Srinivasan (0.02 percent), Rupa Gurunath (0.01 percent), S. K. Ashok Baalaje (0.02 percent), and Rajam Krishnamurthy (1,940 shares).

This stable ownership structure comes after the reorganization of shares by the India Cements Shareholders Trust, which distributed almost its entire holding of CSK shares to eligible promoter and non-promoter shareholders of India Cements. Consequently, the trust’s stake in CSK decreased from over 30 percent in the previous year to 1.76 percent in FY23. The trust allocated 384,882 CSK shares to non-promoter shareholders and 86.7 million shares to promoters of India Cements, as documented in the company’s 2023 annual report.

With the completion of this transaction, UltraTech Cement’s significant stake in India Cements marks a major shift in the cement industry landscape. However, for CSK fans and stakeholders, the assurance of unchanged ownership provides a sense of continuity and stability for one of the most successful franchises in the IPL.