Orient Ceramics and Industries (OCIL) today said it will invest up to Rs 50 crore to set up a new tiles manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh.
The company, that has announced acquisition of 62.92 per cent equity in Gujarat-based Bell Ceramics for Rs 15.84 crore, also made an open offer to acquire additional 20 per cent stake in the company for over Rs 6 crore.
"We have already started construction at the site in Andhra Pradesh to set up a greenfield manufacturing capacity entailing an investment of around Rs 50 crore. The plant is likely to be operational in the next 12-18 months," OCIL Chief Financial Officer Vijay Shankar Sharma told PTI.
Yesterday, OCIL said it has entered into a share purchase agreement with Bell Ceramics (BCL) and S K Jatia, promoter of BCL to acquire 76,59,925 equity shares at Rs 20.69 per share.
In addition to that, the company has also made an open offer to acquire additional 20 per cent equity represented by 24,34,762 shares for Rs 24.95 per share.
The acquisition will help OCIL to strengthen its reach expand in South and West India.
"Bell's acquisition offers a good opportunity for OCIL to expand into South and West regions of the country. We would also look at enhancing the capacity at Bell's existing manufacturing units in Gujarat and Karnataka," Sharma said.
Sikandrabad-based OCIL manufactures a wide range of wall and floor tiles under Orient, Stiler and Europa brands at its unit located in Greater Noida. The company registered net sales of Rs 269.75 crore in 2009-10.
"We expect to grow at the rate of 20 per cent in the current fiscal," he added.
