Adani Group company Ambuja Cements said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire CK Birla group company Orient Cement Ltd (OCL) at an equity value of Rs 8,100 crore ($964 million).
Ambuja will acquire 46.8% of OCL from its current promoters and certain public shareholders and has made an open offer to buy another 26% from public shareholders.
The acquisition will be fully funded through internal accruals, Ambuja said in a statement.
“This timed acquisition marks another significant step forward in Ambuja Cements’ accelerated growth journey, increasing cement capacity by ~30 MTPA within two years of Ambuja’s acquisition,” said Karan Adani, Director of Ambuja Cements.
“By acquiring OCL, Ambuja is poised to reach 100 MTPA cement capacity in FY 25. The acquisition will help to expand Adani Cement’s presence in core markets and improve its pan-India market share by 2%,” he said.
Orient has operational capacity of 8.5 million tonnes per annum. It also has 8.1 MTPA ready to execute projects. The company also owns a limestone mine in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, that can support additional 6.0 MTPA cement capacity in North India.
The acquisition will take Adani Cement's operational capacity to 97.4 MTPA, pushing it closer to to achieving its target of 100 MTPA capacity by March 2025 and move towards the target of 140 MTPA by 2028, Ambuja said.