With the Holcim open offer for ACC coming to a close on Monday, shares have started trickling in. Domestic institutional investors are set to tender around one-third of their shareholding in the open offer, while a large number of the 42,000-odd minority shareholders, owning around nine per cent of the ACC shares are also likely to participate, sources familiar with the matter said. Sources close to the offer expect around 25 per cent of shares to be tendered. Holcim, through its joint venture arm Ambuja Cement India, has made an open offer for a 36.4 per cent stake in the country’s second largest cement maker.
Even a 25 per cent subscription, which the acquirers are expecting, would take Ambuja Cement India’s holding in ACC (currently at 13.8 per cent) to just below 40 per cent. Ambuja Cement India, a holding company, has a 94 per cent stake Ambuja Cement Eastern, besides the 13.8 per cent stake in ACC. However, if the open offer is fully subscribed, the shareholding of Holcim-Ambuja combine in ACC will surge to a controlling 50.1 per cent.
LIC has already indicated to the acquirers that they would tender around 5.7 per cent of its shareholding in ACC, out of the total 15.7%, in the current open offer. Besides, UTI, along with the state-owned general insurance firms - Oriental Insurance and New India Assurance - are likely to part with another 4-5 per cent stake. "We expect LIC, UTI and other insurance firms to tender around 10 per cent shares of ACC. Another large chunk would come from foreign institutional investors and mutual funds. Besides, there are around 42,000 shareholders, who hold around 9 per cent of ACC’s equity in physical form. We expect a large participation by these shareholders. On the whole, we expect the open offer to get a decent response with shares aggregating to around 25 per cent coming in," said a top Ambuja group official.
