One of India’s largest business groups has agreed to buy Holcim Ltd.’s cement business in India, in a $10.5 billion deal that is biggest ever acquisition in the country’s infrastructure and materials industry.
The Adani Group 512599, +0.61% will buy Switzerland-based Holcim’s HOLN, +2.94% stake in Indian listed companies Ambuja Cements Ltd. and ACC Ltd., which will make Adani India’s second-largest cement maker, Adani Group said Sunday.
Holcim, through subsidiaries, holds 63.19% in Ambuja Cements and 54.53% in ACC.
The value for the Holcim stake and open offer consideration for Ambuja Cements and ACC is $10.5 billion, which also makes it the largest ever acquisition by Adani Group.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second half of this year, the statement said.
India’s cement consumption of just 242 kilograms per capita, compared with the global average of 525 kilograms per capital, means there is significant potential for growth in its cement industry, the statement said.
“Not only is India expected to remain one of the world’s largest demand-driven economies for several decades, 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,” Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani said.
Adani Group is a diversified conglomerate in India with market cap of about $177 billion comprising seven publicly traded companies.
The group has business interest in infrastructure industries from energy to logistics to management of airports.