Exactly a month after it acquired a 23% stake from DMart founder, Radhakishan Damani, UltraTech Cement, a part of the Aditya Birla Group and the largest player in the sector, announced that it would pick another 32.72% stake in South-based India Cements at Rs 390 per share. This will be followed by the mandatory 26 per cent open offer and if that is fully subscribed, UltraTech will hold 81 per cent in India Cements. It will mark the exit of the India Cements’ promoter group led by N Srinivasan. The price paid for this deal is 46 per cent more than the Rs 267 that Damani sold his holding at. From a strategic point of view, it gives the buyer a key foothold in the South market, one that is fragmented with over 45 players. Supply today is estimated to exceed capacity easily by 2X, making the region the lowest in terms of capacity utilisation – it is at 60-65 per cent compared to around 7 per cent nationally. Of course, the move is also to pre-empt the Adani Group-owned Ambuja Cements, that has already picked up Sanghi, MyHome’s grinding unit and Penna – to acquire India Cements.