Adani clarifies on exchanges, says not evaluating Jaypee buy

Adani Group on Friday said that they are not evaluating any proposal for acquiring Japyee Cement. Reports earlier stated that the Gautam Adani-backed Group is in discussion to buy Jaypee Group's debt-laden cement business for approximately â‚¹5,000 crore ($606 million). The Group's flagship company Adani Enterprises has clarified on stock exchanges about the deal.

In its filing, Adani said, " the Company is not evaluating any such proposal and hence we are not in a position to comment on the veracity of said media report."

The Adani Group-Jaypee Cement acquisition buzz has been revolving for the past few days.

Earlier, on 10 October, Bloomberg reported that Adani’s conglomerate is in advanced talks with the infrastructure-focused Jaiprakash Group to buy their cement business for about Rs 50 billion ($606 million). Further, it reported that the deal is likely to include a cement grinding unit and other smaller assets from Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd. and Jaiprakash Associates.

Also, on 10 October, Jaiprakash Power Ventures announced that the board of directors has decided to divest the company's Nigrie Cement Grinding Unit as well as other non-core assets.

Later, on October 11, in its exchange filing, Jaiprakash Associates said, "with a view to give thrust to the ongoing efforts of the Company to reduce its debt, the Board of Directors have decided to divest company’s significant cement business." The decision was made in a meeting held on 10 October.

JAL and JP Power both are part of the Jaypee Group. The companies are facing business headwinds.

Last month, Adani Group emerged as the second-largest cement player in India after the acquisition of ACC and Ambuja Cements. Holcim closed the deal with Adani on September 16 by selling its entire stake of 63.11% in Ambuja Cements, which owns a 50.05% interest in ACC, as well as its 4.48% direct stake in ACC. The cash proceeds aggregated to $6.4 billion for Holcim.

On Friday, Jaiprakash Associates dropped by nearly 7.4% to trade at â‚¹10.55 apiece at around 3.17 pm. JP Power trades at â‚¹7.84 apiece on BSE flat compared to the previous day's closing of â‚¹7.82 apiece.

At the same time, Adani Enterprises shares performed at â‚¹3,209 apiece down by 0.76% on BSE. The company's market cap is around â‚¹3,65,826.36 crore.