Adani Group is India’s second-largest cement maker after Ambuja, ACC buyout

Gautam Adani’s conglomerate has acquired the major cement players, Ambuja Cements and ACC. The Adani Group has now become the second largest cement maker in the country. Switzerland’s Holcim closed the deal with Adani Group on Friday by selling its entire stake in Ambuja Cements at Rs 385 per share and in ACC at Rs 2,300 per share, resulting in cash proceeds of $6.4 billion.

“This transaction strengthens Holcim’s balance sheet and enables the company to continue its acquisition strategy, building on recent investments of over CHF 5 billion in solutions & products,” said the company in a statement.

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Adani Group paid $6.4 billion in cash to buy Holcim’s 63.1% stake in Ambuja Cements Ltd and 54.5% holding in ACC, as well as its 4.48% direct stake in ACC.

The Holcim-Adani deal was completed through the transfer of 100% shareholding of Holderind Investments to Endeavour Trade and Investment in both Ambuja and ACC.

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Endeavour Trade and Investment is Adani Group’s special purpose business, while the Mauritius-based Holderind is the holding company of Holcim.

The Ambuja and ACC acquisition makes this the biggest ever acquisition by the Adani Group and India’s largest ever M&A transaction in the infrastructure and materials sector, the company said in a statement.

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In a major reshuffle of its management, Ambuja Cements appointed Gautam Adani’s son Karan Adani as the chairman of its board. Gautam Adani has also joined the board of the cement maker.

The company has also appointed NS Sekhsaria as chairman Emeritus after he resigned from the post of Chairman and director. LIC nominee director Arun Kumar Anand has also tendered his resignation from the board.

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Gautam Adani said, “what makes cement an exciting business is the headroom for growth in India, which exceeds that of every other country well beyond 2050.”

“The Board of Ambuja Cements approved an infusion of INR 20,000 crore into Ambuja by way of preferential allotment of warrants. This will equip Ambuja to capture the growth in the market,” the statement said.

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While UltraTech Cement claims a capacity of 120 million tonnes, Ambuja and ACC together have the capacity of 70 million tonnes of cement annually. Over 10,700 people are employed by the 31 cement manufacturing sites that Ambuja and ACC jointly own.