N Srinivasan, a veteran industrialist, has resigned as CEO and Managing Director of The India Cements Ltd, after UltraTech Cement Ltd acquired a majority stake in the company. The Aditya Birla Group’s company, UltraTech Cement, bought a 32.72% stake in India Cements, totaling 10.13 crore shares, on December 24, 2024. Now, UltraTech owns 55.49% of India Cements, making it the company’s sole controller and promoter.
As a result, N Srinivasan and his family, who were previously the promoters of the company, cease to own any shares in India Cements and are now classified as public shareholders.
N Srinivasan: How He Transformed India Cements?
Throughout his career, spanning over 50 remarkable years, Srinivasan has been deeply passionate and dedicated to the cement industry. India Cements Ltd (ICL) was set up in 1946 by founders SNN Sankaralinga Iyer and TS Narayanaswami (Srinivasan’s father), who hailed from Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu.
Following his father’s demise in 1969 at the age of 59, Srinivasan took on the role of Joint MD at India Cements in his 20s. He had to cut short his MBA studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the US, where he was pursuing his degree after completing his Master’s in Engineering.
Srinivasan’s tenure at India Cements came to a pause in 1979 due to a disagreement with MD KS Narayanan, the son of the company’s another co-founder. Additionally, Srinivasan waged a lengthy battle to regain control of the company. Meanwhile, he staged a successful comeback, assuming the role of Managing Director at the company in September 1989.
During Srinivasan’s leadership, India Cements experienced remarkable growth, expanding from 2 plants with a capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per annum to 10 plants across Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan, with a significantly increased capacity of 15.5 million tonnes per annum.
Furthermore, under his leadership, India Cements also witnessed a substantial surge in turnover, skyrocketing from Rs 1,033 crore in 2002-03 to a remarkable Rs 5,112 crore in the financial year 2023-24.
Acquisition By UltraTech Cement
Despite being one of the largest cement manufacturers in South India, India Cements has been struggling with financial difficulties in recent times.
In July this year, UltraTech Cement strike a deal to acquire 32.72% stake of India Cements for Rs 3,954 crore, to expand its presence in the competitive southern India cement market. Additionally, UltraTech had made an open offer to buy 26% more shares of India Cements from its shareholders for Rs 3,142.35 crore.
In June this year, UltraTech bought 23% of India Cements shares from the Damani group for around Rs 1,900 crore, through two major deals.
