HeidelbergCement will replace the steel company Salzgitter in Germany’s blue-chip DAX index exchange operator Deutsche Boerse said in a statement late on Friday.

The change in the DAX will be effective from June 21, the exchange operator said.

The sale of a majority stake in HeidelbergCement by industrial heir Ludwig Merckle last year boosted the group’s free float, helping it meet a basic criterion for entry onto the index.

The revisions are important for index-tracking funds, whose portfolios mirror the composition of an index.

Thanks to a ’Fast Entry Rule’ on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, a company can enter the DAX index ahead of the stock exchange’s periodic review if it ranks within the 25 biggest companies both in terms of market capitalisation and turnover.