IPO-bound JSW Cement is actively looking for acquisitions in a bid to expand its capacity, as a spur in infrastructure activity has caused bigger players in the industry to consolidate in a race to gain greater market share.
"Wherever we see an opportunity, we will get into it," JSW Group Managing Director and Chairman Sajjan Jindal told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the JV launch with SAIC-owned MG Motor on March 20. When asked if the group is looking to expand through inorganic routes, Jindal said, "Yes, we are."
The so-called green cement maker aims to become one of the top five cement producers in the nation, with a capacity of 60 million tonnes per annum within the next five years.
Analysts expect that bigger cement manufacturers will continue to take over smaller peers to consolidate to protect and gain market share. The heightened ambitions of the major players may lead to price wars even as new capacities are added and this may hurt margins, they believe.
Meanwhile, the Aditya Birla Group, which owns market leader UltraTech Cement and Grasim Industries, is also looking to add capacities through more acquisitions, Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla told Moneycontrol last month.
Indian cement makers are bullish on the demand environment amid increased government spending on infrastructure, rural development and expansion of the housing sector. Last month, the government hiked infrastructure outlay for FY25 at Rs 11.11 lakh crore, a move that was cheered by the cement industry.
IPO plans
JSW Group has tapped investment bankers to facilitate the initial public offering of group company JSW Cement with a target to raise up to Rs 6,000 crore, Moneycontrol reported on January 10, citing multiple people familiar with the development.
The plan to list JSW Cement, led by Sajjan Jindal's son and the company's Managing Director Parth Jindal, follows the recent IPO of JSW Infrastructure, which marked the group's first public offering in 13 years.
If JSW Cement's listing plans materialise, it would be the biggest IPO in the sector since the Rs 5,000-crore initial share sale of Nirma group-backed Nuvoco Vistas in August 2021.
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