Adani Group on Tuesday said it has agreed to acquire CK Birla group firm Orient Cement Ltd in a deal valued at ₹8,100 crore.
Ambuja Cement, India’s No.2 cement maker, will buy 46.8 per cent stake of its founders, including chairman C.K. Birla and certain public shareholders for ₹3,791 crore.
This would trigger an open offer for an additional 26 per cent stake in Orient for ₹395.40, according to a company statement.
The deal intensifies the turf war between Adani and Kumar Mangalam Birla for supremacy in the cement business.
The Orient Cement deal takes the capacity of Ambuja Cement past 100 million tonnes (mt). Kumar Mangalam Birla’s UltraTech is the market leader with domestic capacity of 150mt at the end of 2023-24.
A press statement from Adani said the acquisition will be fully funded through internal accruals.
The promoters’ holding at OCL stands at 37.90 per cent. They will be selling their entire stake to Ambuja at ₹395.40 per share. The OCL share closed at ₹352.20 on the BSE on Monday.
OCL said in a regulatory filing that under the share purchase agreement, the sellers are required to ensure that the company adheres to certain standstill covenants until the close of the transaction.
``The consummation of the transaction is subject to satisfaction of conditions precedent (including, but not limited to, receipt of the relevant statutory approvals),’’ it added.
OCL has 5.6mt clinker capacity and 8.5mt in cement along with statutory clearance to increase the clinker capacity another 6mt and cement capacity another 8.1mt.
“This timed acquisition marks another significant step forward in Ambuja Cements’ accelerated growth journey, increasing cement capacity around 30mt within two years of Ambuja’s acquisition,” Karan Adani, director, Ambuja Cements, said.
“The acquisition will help to expand Adani Cement’s presence in core markets and improve its pan-India market share by two per cent.”
“The CK Birla Group is continuously reallocating capital to sharpen its focus on consumer centric, technology driven and service-based businesses.
“We are confident that the Adani group is the ideal new owner to drive continued growth at Orient Cement,’’ C.K. Birla, chairman of Orient Cement and the CK Birla Group, said.
Adani Energy
Adani Energy Solutions Ltd, the power transmission arm of the Adani group, on Tuesday said it has received a notice from the Securities and Exchange Board of India alleging wrongful categorisation of certain investors as public shareholders.
Without giving details, the company in notes to its second-quarter earnings statement said it will respond by providing information/clarifications.
The promoters hold nearly 70 per cent stake in the company and any change in the categorisation of shareholding may take promoter stake close to maximum 75 per cent.
