SBI invests Rs 100cr in JSW Cement

SBI, the country’s largest lender, has invested Rs 100 crore for a minority stake in JSW Cement, which is controlled by billionaire industrialist Sajjan Jindal. The public sector bank has put the money through compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS). These will be converted into equity shares of at a later stage. The conversion will be linked to the company’s future business performance and valuation determined at the time of its initial public offering (IPO), expected to take place in 12 months or later, JSW Cement said. The company will use the money to almost double its current annual manufacturing capacity of 14 million tonnes. The SBI deal comes close on the heels of the Rs 1,500-crore investment made by private equity funds Apollo Global of US and Synergy of Dubai in JSW Cement. The two funds invested Rs 750 crore each in the company. In August, India’s anti-trust regulator CCI had approved the two transactions. “Financing our growth and expansion strategy with investment from a banking partner such as SBI sets us up very well for our planned IPO in the next 12-18 months,” said JSW Cement director (finance) Narinder Singh Kahlon.