Mithun Roy

Mumbai: German giant Heidelberg Cement has decided to consolidate its presence in India by merging two private entities it owns — Indorama Cement and Heidelberg Cement India Pvt Ltd — with Mysore Cements, a listed entity.

Mysore Cements is a subsidiary of Cementrum I BV, a Dutch company controlled by Heidelberg.

The boards of the three companies approved the merger on Friday in Gurgaon, setting April 1, 2008, as the record date for the proposed merger, the firms said in a joint statement on Friday. The share swap ratio, devised by BMR Advisors, was approved by the boards of the three companies.

The statement said 1.3544 shares of Mysore Cements will be exchanged for each Indorama share, while each share of Heidelberg will get 0.1469 share of Mysore Cements.

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co, New Delhi, are the legal counsel for the proposed merger.

Last year, the Securities Appellate Tribunal allowed Heidelberg to go ahead with its open offer for Mysore Cements at Rs 58 per share, lower than the price that market regulator the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had demanded.

Sebi had asked the German company to hike the offer by 25% to Rs 72.50 a share.

In July 2006, Heidelberg bought a 55% stake in Mysore Cements from original promoter the S K Birla Group. With consolidated turnover of €7 billion, Heidelberg is one of the world’s leading producers of cement, concrete and building material.

Source : DNA