JSW Cement IPO Put On Hold By SEBI

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has kept JSW Cement Ltd.'s initial public offering worth Rs 4,000 crore on hold. The offering has been kept 'in abeyance' and the regulator did not disclose the reason behind its decision.

JSW Cement filed its preliminary papers with the markets regulator to raise funds through an initial public offering in August. The proposed public offering consists of a fresh issue of Rs 2,000 crore and an offer for sale of the same amount.

AP Asia Opportunistic Holdings Pte., Synergy Metals Investments Holding Ltd. and State Bank of India were going to be among the investors selling shares.

SEBI can keep issuance of observations in abeyance for 30 days, 45 days, 90 days or more on a case-to-case basis.

In July 2021, the cement maker had raised up to Rs 1,500 crore from Apollo Global Management Inc. (through its managed fund) and Synergy Metals Investments Holding Ltd. In December 2021, SBI also picked up a minority stake.

JM Financial Ltd., Axis Capital Ltd., Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt., DAM Capital Advisors Ltd., Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt., Jefferies India Pvt., SBI Capital Markets Ltd. and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. will be the book-running lead managers for the issue.

An amount of Rs 800 crore from the proceeds were to be used to partially finance the cost of establishing a new cement unit in Nagaur, Rajasthan. Part of the funds raised were planned to go towards the payment or repayment of certain outstanding company and corporate borrowings.

The cement manufacturer, which has a presence across the value chain of building materials—from cement to construction chemicals—as of March 2024, had a capacity of 20.6 million metric tonne per annum. The company manufactures various grades of cement, including Portland Slag Cement, Ordinary Portland Cement, Concreel HD, Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag and Composite Cement.