16 , May , 2022
Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani's group has announced that it has clinched a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Holcim Ltd's businesses in India for USD 10.5 billion, marking the ports-to-energy conglomerate's entry into the cement sector. As per the sources, the Adani Group will acquire 63.1 per cent of Ambuja Cements Ltd along with related assets. Ambuja's local subsidiaries include ACC Ltd, which is also publicly traded.
In the last couple of years, Adani has diversified beyond their core business of operating ports, power plants and coal mines into airports, data centres and clean energy.
The group in a statement stated, "The Adani Family, through an offshore special purpose vehicle, announced that it had entered into definitive agreements for the acquisition of Switzerland-based Holcim Ltd's entire stake in two of India's leading cement companies - Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd”.
Holcim, through its subsidiaries, holds 63.19 per cent in Ambuja Cements and 54.53 per cent in ACC (of which 50.05 per cent is held through Ambuja Cements). "The value for the Holcim stake and open offer consideration for Ambuja Cements and ACC is USD 10.5 billion, which makes this the largest-ever acquisition by Adani, and India's largest-ever M&A transaction in the infrastructure and materials space," the statement said.
Holcim in a statement said, "The corresponding offer share prices of Rs 385 for Ambuja Cement and Rs 2,300 for ACC translate into cash proceeds of CHF 6.4 billion (Swiss Franc) for Holcim.
Last month, the world's largest cement maker Holcim announced its exit from the country after struggling here for a long. The company through two listed entities ACC and Ambuja has 66 million tonnes per annum capacity (MTPA).
Ambuja Cements and ACC have a combined installed production capacity of around 70 million tonnes per annum, with 23 cement plants, 14 grinding stations, 80 ready-mix concrete plants and over 50,000 channel partners across India
With this deal, Gautam Adani's conglomerate will become the second-largest player in the domestic cement sector by acquiring the joint control of Holcim's two Indian step-down firms ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cement.
