Aditya Birla Group-owned UltraTech Cement announced acquisition of a Rajasthan-based wall putty manufacturer, Wonder WallCare on Thursday. The acquisition for an enterprise value not exceeding Rs 235 crores is likely to be completed in three months. The move aims to boost the conglomerate’s white cement and putty business, said UltraTech in the exchange filing.
“This acquisition will help the company expand its putty and value-added products production capacity in the highly competitive and fragmented manufacturing market in India,” said UltraTech in a statement.
The Rajasthan-based company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wonder Cement and has a manufacturing plant for wall putty and related products with a capacity of 600,000 tonne per annum in the state. Wonder WallCare’s turnover increased from Rs 20.36 crore in FY23 to Rs 78.61 crore in FY24.
How Acquisitions Are Cementing UltraTech’s Dominance
Aditya Birla Group is on an expansion spree with acquisitions taking place across the country. In March this year, the conglomerate completed the acquisition of West Bengal-based Kesoram Industries.
In December 2024, KM Birla-chaired conglomerate acquired a minority 8.69% stake in Meghalaya-based Star Cement in a deal worth Rs 851 crore. In the same year, the group also acquired a controlling stake in Tamil Nadu-based cement producer India Cement. According to an earlier report by Moneycontrol, UltraTech is eyeing to acquire the Indian operations of HeidelbergCement.
Also Read: Giants Eye Metals Sector to Cement Dominance
Aditya Birla Group’s acquisition spree started after Gautam Adani-led Adani Group entered into the cement business. Adani Group’s debut in the cement business started with the acquisition of a stake in Ambuja Cements and ACC. Last year the port-to-power conglomerate acquired Telangana-based Penna Cement Industries and Karnataka-based Orient Cement to strengthen its position as the second largest cement manufacturer in the country.
The strategy of pursuing inorganic growth by the two biggest players has increased competition in the cement industry.
