Anant Raj Ltd has announced that its strategic demerger plan has been approved, creating two focused listed entities - one for real estate and infrastructure operations and another for data centre, cloud services and AI-ready cloud infrastructure business. According to the latest exchange filing, eligible shareholders will receive two equity shares of Ashok Cloud with face value of ₹2 each for every one equity share of Anant Raj held, with the scheme approved under Sections 230 to 232 of the Companies Act, 2013. The demerger is subject to necessary statutory, regulatory and judicial approvals, including those from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), SEBI, stock exchanges, shareholders, creditors and other applicable authorities. As per ET Now, for example, if an eligible shareholder holds 1,000 shares of Anant Raj, the shareholder will be entitled to receive 2,000 shares of Ashok Cloud, subject to the final terms of the approved scheme.
Anant Raj has successfully completed the subscription of 37,43,22,553 fully paid-up equity shares of Ashok Cloud Private Limited at ₹2 per share, aggregating to ₹74.86 crore. The transaction has been completed under SEBI regulations as a related party transaction with full exemption, with the funding directly supporting the rapid expansion of Anant Raj's high-growth data centre and sovereign cloud services business. The subsidiary's paid-up share capital expanded from ₹5 lakh comprising 2,50,000 equity shares to ₹74.91 crore comprising 37,45,72,553 equity shares following the completed rights issue. As per The Economic Times, this capital injection represents a major turning point for scaling operations, as Ashok Cloud had reported zero turnover across the past three fiscal years (FY24, FY25, and FY26) before this significant investment.
On Tuesday (July 21), Anant Raj Ltd's board approved a composite scheme of arrangement to separate its data centre and cloud services business from its real estate and infrastructure operations, creating two independently listed companies. According to CNBC TV18, the restructuring reflects the evolution of the group into two businesses with different growth drivers, capital requirements and operating models. Amit Sarin, Managing Director of Anant Raj Ltd, stated that the proposed composite scheme is designed to provide greater strategic focus, management autonomy, and flexibility to pursue long-term value creation, as both businesses enter their next phase of expansion. The scheme aims to create dedicated management teams for each business, provide independent strategic direction and operational focus, and enable separate market recognition and valuation of the data centre and cloud services business. As per The Economic Times, the restructuring is aimed at creating two focused businesses, allowing each to pursue independent growth strategies, improve operational efficiency and create long-term value for shareholders.
Under the scheme, Anant Raj will first consolidate all its data centre and cloud operations under a single entity before carving them out into Ashok Cloud Private Limited, which will subsequently be listed independently on BSE and NSE. Anant Raj currently operates 28 MW of IT load across its campuses in Manesar and Panchkula and is expanding its data centre footprint across Haryana. The company has 21 MW of IT load capacity operational at Manesar and 7 MW at Panchkula as of Q4 FY26, with ambitious targets of 357 MW by 2031-32. The restructuring will create a more focused and scalable platform that will be well-positioned to attract investments, pursue strategic partnerships, and capitalize on emerging opportunities in the digital infrastructure sector. As per CNBC TV18, the structure would provide greater flexibility for the cloud business to attract sector-focused investors, strategic partnerships, acquisitions and growth capital.
Ashok Cloud will emerge as a dedicated digital infrastructure and cloud services company, offering advanced data centres, co-location services, sovereign public cloud offerings, artificial intelligence (AI)-ready cloud infrastructure, disaster recovery services, including cloud migration and data backup solutions, along with other allied services. The company will be well positioned to capitalise on the rapidly growing demand for digital infrastructure and cloud services in India. As per The Economic Times, Anant Raj has also partnered with Orange Business, the French IT and telecom services provider, to deliver managed cloud services in India, further strengthening its integrated digital infrastructure offerings. In June 2024, Anant Raj incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore to provide colo and Cloud services, including AI services, from the data centres and Cloud infrastructure being developed.
Upon the scheme becoming effective, eligible shareholders of Anant Raj will receive two fully paid-up equity shares of face value of ₹2 each in Ashok Cloud for every one fully paid-up equity share of face value of ₹2 each held in Anant Raj. The scheme will not result in the cancellation of Anant Raj's existing shareholding in Ashok Cloud, which will continue to remain its subsidiary. Following the demerger, the shareholding pattern of Ashok Cloud will comprise 79.14% held by promoters and 20.86% held by the public, while Anant Raj Limited's shareholding pattern will remain unchanged with promoters holding 57.42% and the public holding 42.58%. According to CNBC TV18, shares of Anant Raj Ltd ended at ₹609.60, down by ₹9.00, or 1.50% on the BSE. The proposed demerger remains subject to approvals from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), SEBI, stock exchanges, shareholders, creditors and other applicable authorities.
