Adani to launch open offer for ACC and Ambuja Cements on August 26

The Adani Group is likely to launch next week an open offer worth ₹31,000 crore to acquire 26 per cent stake each in Swiss firm Holcim’s two Indian listed entities Ambuja Cements and ACC, from public shareholders.

In May this year, the Adani Group announced that it has clinched a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Holcim Ltd’s businesses in India for USD 10.5 billion.

Markets regulator Sebi granted approval for the open offer this week. The open offer is estimated at over ₹31,000 crore if fully subscribed.

In two separate regulatory filings, Ambuja Cements and ACC have submitted their letter of offers for the open offer launched by the Adani family group’s Mauritius-based firm Endeavour Trade and Investment.

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As per the revised schedule submitted by ICICI Securities and Deutsche Equities India – which are the managers of open offer – tendering of the shares in the open will start from August 26 as against the earlier date of July 6. This will end on September 9, 2022.

In May, the Adani Group had made an open offer at ₹385 per share for Ambuja Cements and ₹2,300 per share for ACC.

For Ambuja Cements, the group had made an open offer to its public shareholders to acquire up to 51.63 crore equity shares, representing 26 per cent of the expanded share capital, aggregating to ₹19,879.57 crore.

For ACC Ltd, the group had offered to acquire up to 4.89 crore shares held by public shareholders, representing 26 per cent of the expanded share capital, aggregating to ₹11,259.97 crore.

This open offer has been triggered following the execution of the share purchase agreement between the Adani Group and Holcim to acquire controlling stake in the latter’s businesses in India “for an aggregate consideration of USD equivalent to ₹50,181.04 crore”.

Endeavour Trade and Investment is promoted by Acropolis Trade and Investment Ltd, which is held by certain members of the Adani family.

On May 15, the Adani Group had announced a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Holcim Ltd’s businesses in India for USD 10.5 billion (around ₹83,920 crore current value), marking the ports-to-energy conglomerate’s entry into the cement sector.

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The Adani Group will acquire 63.1 per cent of Ambuja Cements along with related assets. Ambuja’s local subsidiaries include ACC Ltd, which is also publicly traded.

Swiss building material major Holcim, through its subsidiaries, holds 63.19 per cent in Ambuja Cements and 54.53 per cent in ACC (of which 50.05 per cent is held through Ambuja Cements).

Ambuja Cements and ACC currently have a combined installed production capacity of 70 million tonne per annum. The two companies together have 23 cement plants, 14 grinding stations, 80 ready-mix concrete plants and over 50,000 channel partners across India.