CHENNAI: A little over a year after UltraTech Cement acquired India Cements, billionaire industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla’s building materials flagship is set to sell Rs 740 crore worth of India Cements shares to comply with Sebi’s minimum public shareholding norms. Currently, UltraTech owns 81.5% of India Cements, while the capital market regulator’s rules mandate that listed companies must have at least 25% of their shares owned by the public. UltraTech will sell 6.5% of India Cements between Thursday and Friday, bringing its stake lower to 75%. It has fixed the floor price for the share sale at Rs 368 apiece, which is slightly lower than India Cements’ Wednesday closing price of Rs 370 on the BSE. UltraTech’s stake went over 75% after an open offer that was triggered when its holdings in India Cements crossed a specific threshold. The open offer for an extra 26% stake to India Cements’ public shareholders was oversubscribed, which was a rare occurrence in such offers. According to Sebi rules, India Cements has until Feb 3, 2026, to ensure enough shares are held by the public. In June 2024, Birla first checked into India Cements by buying 24% from ace investor and DMart store founder Radhakishan Damani. A month later, he acquired 32.8% from India Cements founding family N Srinivasan and some of his relatives. The acquisition triggered Birla to make an open offer for another 26% to India Cements’ public shareholders.