Aditya Birla Nuvo, Grasim shares sink on merger announcement

Shares of Aditya Birla Nuvo fell sharply by nearly 25% on Friday after the US $41 billion Aditya Birla Group announced plans to merge the company with Grasim Industries to create a nearly Rs 60,000-crore diversified entity that will be among the largest in India.

The scrip of Aditya Birla Nuvo dived 24.63% to Rs 1,180 on BSE. On NSE, it plunged 24.68% to Rs 1,176.75. Shares of Grasim also tanked 8.34% to Rs 4,160.

As part of the plan, financial services business of the merged entity will be hived off and merged with Aditya Birla Financial Services (ABFSL), a wholly-owned arm of ABNL and will be listed subsequently. The boards of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL) and Grasim Industries approved a composite scheme of arrangement between the two firms and ABFSL.

"The proposed restructuring will create one of India's largest, well-diversified companies with a healthy mix of business with steady cash flows and long term growth opportunities," Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said on Friday. With diverse businesses spanning manufacturing and services, the combined company provides a play on India's growth story, he added.

Post merger, with an aggregate turnover of Rs 59,766 crore (for the year ended March 31, 2016), Grasim will become the number one cement company with the largest selling brand, among the top 10 diversified private NBFCs in India, top four private sector life insurers and asset management companies and number three telecom operator in the country, the Aditya Birla Group had said in a statement.