With The Acquisition Of Ambuja-ACC For $10.5 Billion, Adani Group Becomes India's Second Largest Cement Producer

Gautam Adani, a billionaire, signed a $10.5 billion transaction on Sunday that gives his company a 63.19 percent share in Holcim Ltd's India operations, Ambuja Cements Ltd and its subsidiary ACC.

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

Holcim owns 63.19 percent of Ambuja Cements and 54.53 percent of ACC through its subsidiaries (of which 50.05 per cent is held through Ambuja Cements). According to the Adani Group, the value of the Holcim stake and open offer consideration for Ambuja Cements and ACC totals $10.5 billion, making it India's largest M&A transaction in the infrastructure and materials market.

The deal is expected to net Holcim 6.4 billion Swiss francs ($6.4 billion) in cash. The Adani Group said that it would make an open offer to buy more 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 and has thus deterred many environmentally sensitive investors, is the divestiture of its India assets.

Forbes named Adani Asia's richest man after he signed definitive agreements to buy Holcim Ltd's full stake in Ambuja and ACC via an offshore special purpose entity.

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

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

"Our entry into the cement market is just another confirmation of our faith in our country's growth story," Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said. "India is not only likely to remain one of the world's largest demand-driven economies for several decades, but it is also the world's second largest cement market, despite having less than half of global average per capita cement consumption."