Arcasia Investment & Trading (Pvt) Ltd and ATX Partners (Pvt) Ltd have entered into binding agreements to acquire a 50.16% controlling stake in Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) PLC, triggering a mandatory offer for the company's remaining shares.

Arcasia Investment & Trading, a subsidiary of Arcasia Holdings founded by legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Aravinda de Silva, will lead the acquiring consortium.

According to corporate disclosures released on Tuesday (8), Industrial Asphalts Executive Director Govindasamy Ramanan signed a binding agreement on July 7 to sell 1,800,693,010 shares, representing approximately 48.03% of the company's total issued ordinary voting shares.

In a separate agreement, the consortium will acquire a further 80,000,000 shares, equivalent to approximately 2.13% of the issued voting shares, from Srikumar Balasubramaniyam.

Upon completion of both transactions, Arcasia Investment & Trading and ATX Partners will hold a combined 1,880,693,010 shares, representing 50.16% of the issued ordinary voting shares of Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) PLC.

As the acquisition exceeds the 30% threshold stipulated under the Company Take-overs and Mergers Code 1995, the consortium has announced its intention to make a mandatory offer to acquire the remaining ordinary voting shares held by other shareholders.

The offer price and other terms of the mandatory offer will be announced after the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka grants the necessary approvals for the transaction.