Adani Group readies Ambuja, ACC open offers after SEBI nod

Adani Group readies Ambuja, ACC open offers after SEBI nod

Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Group will run open offers next week to acquire a 26% stake in Holcim Group’s Ambuja Cement and ACC after it received the go-ahead fromcapital markets regulator Sebifor the ₹31,139-crore buyout.

Adani family-owned Endeavour Trade and Investments will make the offer to buy 516.3 million equity shares of Ambuja Cement for ₹19,879 crore and 48.9 million equity shares of ACC for ₹11,259 crore from the public. Both offers will run between August 26 and September 9. Together, this might be the biggest open offer in Indian corporate history.

The Sebi-mandated offers are a result of the acquisition of Swiss-based Holcim’s 63.11% stake in Ambuja Cement and 4.48% stake in ACC, and a 50.05% stake held by Ambuja Cement in ACC.

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Holcim had signed a binding agreement for the transaction in May, marking the diversified Adani Group’s foray into the cement sector. The total deal size, including the open offer, is ₹81,339 crore.

ICICI Securities and Deutsche India Equities are managing the offers. Antitrust regulator Competition Commission of India had given its approval to the deal last week.

After the transaction, Adani Group will become the second-largest cement maker in India with an installed manufacturing capacity of 70 million tonne per year in 23 cement-making factories, 14 grinding stations, 80 ready-mix concrete plants and over 50,000 distribution partners across India.

The buyout will help Adani control close to 14% of India’s cement market. The country’s largest cement maker, UltraTech, controlled by the Aditya Birla Group, has a capacity of 115 million tonne per annum and a market share of 25%.