Adani Group completes acquisition of Ambuja Cements, ACC; Ambuja Cements board approves Rs 20,000 cr infusion

Adani Group has successfully completed the acquisition of Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd, the company said in its filing to exchanges. The transaction involved the acquisition of Holcim’s stake in Ambuja and ACC along with an open offer in both entities through Endeavour Trade and Investment Ltd, the release further said.

Adani will hold 63.15 per cent in Ambuja Cements and 56.69 per cent in ACC (of which 50.05 per cent is held through Ambuja Cements).

The value of the Holcim stake and open offer consideration for Ambuja Cements and ACC is USD 6.50 billion, making it the largest ever acquisition by Adani, and also India’s largest ever M&A transaction in the infrastructure and materials space, the release claimed.

The Board of Ambuja Cements approved an infusion of Rs 20,000 cr into Ambuja by way of preferential allotment of warrants. The step has been taken to equip Ambuja to capture the growth in the market. "The actions will significantly accelerate value creation for all stakeholders, in line with the Adani Group’s business philosophy," the statement read.

Currently, Ambuja Cements and ACC have a combined installed production capacity of 67.5 MTPA. The two companies are among the strongest brands in India with immense depth of manufacturing and supply chain infrastructure, represented by their 14 integrated units, 16 grinding units, 79 ready-mix concrete plants and over 78,000 channel partners across India.

"Both Ambuja Cements and ACC will benefit from synergies with the integrated Adani infrastructure platform, especially in the areas of raw material, renewable power and logistics, where Adani Portfolio companies have vast experience and deep expertise," the release said.

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

“Cement is a game of economics dependent on energy costs, logistics and distribution costs, and the ability to leverage a digital platform to transform production as well as gain significant supply chain efficiencies. Each one of these capabilities is a core business for us and therefore provides our cement business a set of unmatched adjacencies. It is these adjacencies that eventually drive competitive economics. In addition, our position as one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world will help us manufacture premium quality green cement well in line with the principles of a circular economy. All of these dimensions put us on track to become the largest and most efficient manufacturer of cement by no later than 2030,” he added.