CCI approves Dalmia Cement’s acquisition

The acquisition of Jaiprakash Associates Limited's cement, clinker, and power facilities by Dalmia Cement has received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a 56,660 million deal (JAL). The acquisition will allow Dalmia Cement, which has its headquarters in New Delhi, to increase its presence in central India and become a pan-Indian corporation with a capacity of 75 million tonnes by FY27 and 110–130 million tonnes by FY31. Central India is home to more than 50% of Jaypee Group's cement production capacity. Once all regulatory bodies have given their approval to this latest transaction, Jaiprakash Associates will completely leave the cement industry. A fully owned subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Limited (DBL), which has been in the cement manufacturing and distribution industry for more than 80 years, is Dalmia Cements. The Dalmia Bharat Group is ultimately headed by DBL. JAL produces and sells clinker in India, makes and sells grey cement mostly in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, and generates (coal-based) thermal power in India mainly for captive use. The plants being sold under this agreement are located in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. A legally binding framework agreement was signed in December of last year by Dalmia Bharat and Dalmia Cement to buy the firms for an estimated total enterprise value of 56,660 million. The arrangement involved the sale of cement, clinker, and power plants with a combined capacity of 9.4 mtpa for cement, 6.7 mtpa for clinker, and 280 MW for thermal power plants. JAL had made the decision to totally abandon the cement sector, repay the lenders' loans with the money, and focus on its other primary areas of operation. REDUCING DEBT JAL had been making efforts in the previous ten years to pay down its debt, repay lenders, and fulfil its obligations in a proactive manner. In 2014 and 2017, it sold over 20 mtpa of cement production capacity in UltraTech Cement Limited's favour, and in 2015, it sold the controlling interest in more over 2 mtpa of cement production to Dalmia Group. The Firm has already divested its different cement and power plants to other top industrial groups in order to achieve its goal to lower its debt. JAL and Jaiprakash Power Ventures first made intentions to sell off its non-core assets and cement company in October of last year in order to pay off debt.