When private equity (PE) investor True North threw its hat in the ring to bid for Binani Cement as part of a consortium that included JSW Group, it had no idea the process would become as convoluted as it finally did. Effectively, the Kumar Birla-led UltraTech Cement was the highest bidder but its late submissions caused Binani -- one of the more coveted assets referred to the National Company Law Tribunal under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code -- to be referred to the Supreme Court. The law eventually upheld the sale to Birla and True North lost the deal.Howeve, what it gained in exchange was priceless -- a view into cement which gave it an edge in understanding the sector. In the past decade, True North has invested a little over $100 million in four different businesses within the construction materials category. The latest one, Shree Digvijay Cement Company, was owned by Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos, one of the largest global producers in the segment in terms of annual ..
