ACC chairman Tarun Das with managing director M.L. Narula in Mumbai on Wednesday. (PTI)

Mumbai, July 13: After years, ACC is presenting a promoter. The cement major, which projected itself as a professionally managed company even after Narottam Sekhsaria of Gujarat Ambuja picked up around 15 per cent of its stake, is finally showing that Holcim calls the shots.

The Sekhsarias shunned the promoter tag to dodge an open offer they would have to make after having bought out the Tatas, who also called themselves only “an investor” when it came to matters of the cement company.

With the new owners, its character is changing too. In a sign of the times, ACC chairman Tarun Das told shareholders at the firm’s 69th annual general meeting here today that the financial year would now run to December, a practice Holcim follows. This means that the current year will be only nine months long ? April to December 2005.

There are other stirrings of change too. ACC will sell all its non-core businesses in its drive to achieve a capacity of 20 million tonnes this year. As the first step, the board cleared the merger of two subsidiaries and the sale of refractories to ICICI Venture Capital for Rs 257 crore.

“We will continue to divest non-core businesses. This will enable us to focus our energies on cement,” Das explained. Bargarh Cement and Damodar Cement and Slag will merge with the company with effect from April 1.

Holcim’s CEO Markus Akermann and his colleague Paul Hugentobler attended the ACC board meeting today. Later, they showed up at the annual general meeting, where they were flanked by ACC vice-chairman Narottam Sekhsaria and N.A. Soonawala, the Tata Sons vice-chairman who also sits on the ACC board.

Introducing the two representatives from the Swiss major, Das said: “Holcim is the world leader in cement, apart from being large suppliers of concrete, aggregates and construction-related services. We believe their formidable presence will help us enhance our performance.”

Holcim acquired a majority stake in Ambuja Cement India, which held 13.8 per cent of ACC’s equity. It later raised its stake to 34.71 per cent through an open offer.