Ambuja Cements, an Adani Group company, has acquired 46.8 per cent stake in Orient Cement for ₹8,100 crore from its promoters. The company will make an open offer to shareholders of Orient Cement for acquiring an additional 26 per cent at ₹395 per equity share.

The deal will be funded through internal accruals and is expected to be completed in 3-4 months, said Ambuja Cements in a statement on Tuesday.

To start with, Ambuja Cements will acquire 7.76 crore equity shares of Orient Cement representing 38 per cent from the promoter group at ₹395.40 per share leading total investment of ₹3,185 crore.

Separately, Ambuja Cements executed agreement to buy out 1.82 crore equity shares for representing 8.90 per cent from certain public shareholders at ₹395.40 per share. Shares of Orient Cement closed at ₹343. 50 per share on the BSE.

Ambuja Cements will also make an offer to purchase 5.34 crore equity shares constituting 26 per cent at the same price, said the company in a statement.

The Adani Group forayed into the cement business in September 2022 by buying out Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC Ltd from Switzerland’s Holcim Group for $6.4 billion.

In April, the Adani family invested ₹8,339 crore in Ambuja Cements to provide ammunition for acquiring asset. Adani Group has been acquiring a series of cement companies to inch closer to the largest player Aditya Birla Group Ultratech. Last year in December, the Adani Group acquired Sanghi Cement and followed it up with Penna Cement buy out for ₹10,422 crore in June.

Orient Cement turnover was up last fiscal at ₹3,185 crore against ₹2,938 crore logged in the same period last year. The turnover was at ₹2,725 crore in FY22.

Orient Cement has an 8.5 mtpa (million tonnes per annum) capacity and can nearly double it by another 8.1 MTPA through brownfield expansion. It also owns a high quality limestone mine at Chittorgarh (Rajasthan) that can support an additional 6 mtpa cement capacity in North India.

This will take Adani Cement’s operational capacity to 97.4 mtpa, accelerating its plans to achieve over 100 mtpa capacity by next March-end.

The deal will also help Ambuja Cements to increase its presence by 8.5 mtpa in the core market of South and West India and improve pan-India market share by 2 per cent.

The large limestone deposit at Chittorgarh (Rajasthan) provides the potential to increase cement grinding capacity by 6 mtpa in the attractive northern narket, it said.

Karan Adani, Director, Ambuja Cements, said OCL assets are highly efficient, equipped with railway sidings and well supported by captive power plants, renewable energy, WHRS and AFR facilities, he said.

It is also located strategically, high-quality limestone reserves and requisite statutory approvals present an opportunity to increase cement capacity in the near term to 16.6 mtpa, he added.

CK Birla, Chairman, Orient Cement, said the Group is continuously reallocating capital to sharpen its focus on consumer centric, technology driven and service-based businesses.

Adani Group, with its strong focus on cement and infrastructure, is the ideal new owner to drive continued growth at Orient Cement, he added.

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