UltraTech’s stake acquisition in India Cements is unlikely to affect the ownership of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), one of the most successful franchise teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is owned by India Cements’ promoters N Srinivasan and his family.
UltraTech Cement announced on Sunday that its board of directors has approved the purchase of a 32.72% equity stake in India Cements from the promoters and their associates. This announcement follows the Aditya Birla Group company’s acquisition of a 22.77% equity stake in the Chennai-based cement manufacturer for Rs 1,889 crore in June.
According to industry experts, the transaction will have no impact on the shareholding of CSK. Originally created as a division of India Cements in 2008, CSK was spun off as an independent entity in 2015 when India Cements sold its entire stake in CSK to the India Cements Shareholder Trust, controlled by its three independent directors.
In FY23, the trust distributed the CSK shares to both promoter and non-promoter shareholders of India Cements in proportion to the number of shares they held. Consequently, Srinivasan and his family own a 28.14% stake in CSK. According to CSK’s 2023 annual report, EWS Finance and Investments, a related party of India Cements, holds a 21.47% stake in CSK. Other promoters include Srinivasan’s daughter Rupa Gurunath as trustee of the Financial Services Trust and Securities Services Trust (6.48%), N Srinivasan (0.14%), Chitra Srinivasan (0.02%), Rupa Gurunath (0.01%), SK Ashok Baalaje (0.02%), while Rajam Krishnamurthy holds 1,940 shares.