Adani acquires Orient Cement for Rs8,100 crore

Adani Group company Ambuja Cements has agreed to acquire 46.8 per cent shares of B K Birla Group’s Orient Cement Ltd (OCL) for Rs8,100 crore.

Adani said the acquisition will be funded through internal accruals and Ambuja will remain debt free post acquisition.

The acquisition of OCL adds 16.6 million tonnes of annual production capacity (8.5 million tonnes operational and 8.1 million tonnes waiting to operationalise) to Adani Cement’s combined capacity, taking it to over 100 million tonnes per annum.

Karan Adani, director of Ambuja Cements, said the acquisition will accelerate Adani Cement’s capacity expansion, with planned addition of 30 million tonnes within two years

Besides it will expand Adani Cement’s presence in core markets and increase its market share by 2 per cent. 

OCL is well equipped with captive power plants, including renewable power units, quality limestone reserves and railway sidings. It has also all necessary statutory approvals in place for capacity expansion.

It is also complemented by waste heat recovery system and alternative fuels and raw materials

The company has a large high quality limestone mining lease in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, which offers the potential for expanding capacity by an additional 6 MTPA capacity in the northern region.

Besides, OCL has secured a concession in Madhya Pradesh for setting up a grinding unit within the premises of Satpura Thermal Power Plant. 

Ambuja, with its subsidiaries ACC Ltd, Penna Cement Industries Ltd and Sanghi Industries Ltd, already has an annual capacity of 88.9 million tonnes. It has 20 integrated cement manufacturing plants, 20 grinding units and 12 bulk terminals across the country.

OCL will help Ambuja Cement expand its overall capacity utilisation while improving cost competitiveness.