Adani Group acquires 63.19% stake in Ambuja Cements and ACC

Gautam Adani signed a $10.5 billion deal that gives his conglomerate a 63.19% share in Holcim Ltd India operations, Ambuja Cements Ltd and its subsidiary ACC Limited.

The Adani Group has now surpassed the Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech Cement as the country's second-largest cement maker. The JSW Group was also interested in buying the Ambuja-ACC joint venture.

Holcim owns 63.19% of Ambuja Cements and 54.53% of ACC through its subsidiaries (of which 50.05% is held through Ambuja Cements).

According to the Adani Group, the value of the Holcim share and open offer consideration for Ambuja Cements and ACC totals $10.5 billion, making it India's largest M&A deal in the infrastructure and materials market.

The deal is likely to net Holcim 6.4 billion Swiss francs in cash. The Adani Group said that it would make an open offer to buy additional shares. The deal should be completed in the second half of 2022.

Holcim's latest attempt to minimise its reliance on carbon-intensive cement manufacture, an industrial process that creates significant amounts of CO2 emissions.

The Adani Group has expanded beyond its primary business of running ports, power plants, and coal mines in recent years to include airports, data centres, and sustainable energy.

In 2021, the group established two cement subsidiaries: Adani Cementation Ltd, which planned to build two cement plants in Gujarat and Maharashtra, and Adani Cement Ltd.

Gautam Adani told the media that their entry into the cement market is just another validation of their faith in the country's economic story.

He said India is not only likely to remain one of the world's greatest demand-driven economies for several decades, but it is also the world's second-largest cement market, despite having less than half of the global average per capita cement consumption.

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