Adani gets SEBI nod for a ₹10,100 cr open offer for Ambuja Cements, ACC

• India’s richest man Gautam Adani received SEBI nod to go ahead with a $3.8 billion open offer for Ambuja Cements and ACC.
• In May, the Adani Group acquired the two cement companies from Holcim in a deal valued at $10.5 billion.
• The company is betting on its infrastructure business as it seeks to integrate these two cement companies into its portfolio.

The Adani Group today received approval from the market regulator SEBI for a $3.8 billion (approx. ₹10,100 crore) open offer for cement companies Ambuja and ACC. This comes months after it acquired a 63% stake in Ambuja Cements from Holcim, a Switzerland-based construction company.

To recap, India’s richest man Gautam Adani acquired Ambuja Cements and ACC from Holcim for $10.5 billion (approx. ₹83,000 crore), making the Adani Group India’s second largest cement producer overnight. The $10.5 billion transaction includes a $3.8 billion public offer.

As per the approved open offer, Adani has offered ₹2,300 per share of ACC, which is at a discount of 1.7% to the closing price on August 19, while it has offered ₹385 per share of Ambuja Cements, which is at a discount of 8.5%.

SEBI rules require companies to make an offer to acquire the stake of minority shareholders if their stake in a listed entity crosses 25%.

Aditya Birla Group’s UltraTech Cement is India’s largest cement company, with nearly twice the capacity of Ambuja Cements and ACC combined.

“Holcim's global leadership in cement production and sustainability best practices brings to us some of the cutting-edge technologies that will allow us to accelerate the path to greener cement production,” said Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group.

Together, Ambuja and ACC have 23 cement plants, 14 grinding stations, 80 ready-mix concrete plants and over 50,000 channel partners across India.

“Ambuja Cements and ACC are two of the strongest brands recognized across India. When augmented with our renewable power generation footprint, we gain a big headstart in the decarbonization journey that is a must for cement production,” said Adani.

As part of the deal, the Adani Group will take over the entire 63.19% stake of Holcim in Ambuja Cements, and the 54.53% stake in ACC.

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