UltraTech buys Patni's putty biz for Rs 235 crore

MUMBAI: Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla is currently on an acquisition spree. His group flagship UltraTech Cement is set to acquire the white cement business of Wonder Cement for an enterprise value of Rs 235 crore, including debt.

Wonder Cement operates a 6-lakh million tonne white cement manufacturing plant in Rajsamand-Nathdwara, Rajasthan. The company is owned by Ashok Patni-who founded RK Marble in May 1989-along with his family.

Wonder Cement's white cement (also known as wall putty) plant is strategically located near large reserves of raw materials and close to Ultra Tech's existing putty manufacturing facilities in Rajasthan. The Patni family entered the wall putty manufacturing business in 2019, and the unit saw a significant increase in turnover, reaching Rs 79 crore in FY24, up from Rs 21 crore in FY23.

The acquisition, expected to be concluded in three months, will allow UltraTech to expand its putty production capacity, currently at 2.7m tonnes, in the highly competitive and fragmented putty manufacturing market. TNN