Gautam Adani-owned Adani Group on Sunday announced a deal to acquire Holcim’s businesses in India for $10.5 billion.
The Adani Group will acquire Switzerland-based Holcim’s stake in Ambuja Cements Ltd (A Holcim Group Company) and ACC Limited in a history-making deal. It’ll be India’s largest-ever acquisition in the Infra and Materials space.
It also strengthens our commitment to contribute toward Nation Building and committed to setting the benchmark for Green Cement. With this, Adani now becomes India’s second-largest cement manufacturer with a capacity of about 70 Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA), the statement added.
Adani Group, which is already a ports-to-energy conglomerate, with this deal will also enter the cement sector.
Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, in a tweet said, “Our belief in the India story is unshakeable. Combining @Holcim’s cement assets in India with our green energy and logistics will make us the world’s greenest cement company. Jan Jenisch has been terrific to work with. We welcome the @AmbujaCementACL & @ACCLimited teams.”
Adani, in a statement, said, “Our move into the cement business is yet another validation of our belief in our nation’s growth story. Not only is India expected to remain one of the world’s largest demand-driven economies for several decades, but India also continues to be the world’s second-largest cement market and yet has less than half of the global average per capita cement consumption.”
He added, “In statistical comparison, China’s cement consumption is over 7x that of India’s. When these factors are combined with the several adjacencies of our existing businesses including the Adani Group’s ports and logistics business, energy business, and real estate business, we believe that we will be able to build a uniquely integrated and differentiated business model and set ourselves up for significant capacity expansion.”
Jan Jenisch, CEO of Holcim Limited, said, “I am delighted that the Adani Group is acquiring our business in India to lead its next era of growth.”
Adani Group, in the last couple of years, has diversified its portfolio beyond the core business of operating ports, power plants, and coal mines into airports, data centres, and clean energy.
Jenisch further added, “Mr. Gautam Adani is a highly recognized business leader in India who shares our deep commitment to sustainability, people, and communities.”
“I would like to thank our 10,000 Indian colleagues who have played an essential role in the development of our business over the years with their relentless dedication and expertise. I am confident that the Adani Group is the perfect home for them as well as our customers to continue to thrive.”, Jenisch added.
Holcim was planning to exit India following intense scrutiny of its India operations by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which opened its second investigation against the company in December 2020. An appeal filed against an earlier penalty imposed by the CCI is currently pending in the Supreme Court.
The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals and conditions, is expected to close by the second half of 2022.
