Ultratech set to buy Dubai cement firm: Report

April 29, 2010: UltraTech Cement is set to acquire a 51-percent stake in Dubai-based Star Cement for an undisclosed sum, which will give it access to Asian and African markets, a newspaper reported recently.

Officials at the two firms have agreed to a deal and lawyers are working on it, the report said, citing two unnamed people familiar with the development.

UltraTech is set to become India's largest cement maker with a capacity of 49 million tons per year, after its proposed takeover of the Aditya Birla group's cement businesses later this year.

Star Cement, an associate company of UAE conglomerate ETA Ascon Star, has a total installed capacity of 3.8 million tons a year, with a presence in growing markets such as Bahrain, Sudan and Bangladesh, the paper said.

In February, Oman's Raysut Cement had said it was planning a bid to buy Star Cement.

Source: The Economic Times