Adanis raise stake in Ambuja Cements, invest $1 billion more

Adani Group promoter Gautam Adani’s family has infused an additional ₹8,339 crore ($1 billion) into the conglomerate’s subsidiary, Ambuja Cements, increasing its stake in the company by 3.6% to 70.3%. 

With this additional tranche of investment, the Adani family completed its total infusion in the cement company to ₹20,000 crore, or $2.39 billion, under the warrants program. 

Earlier in March, the Adani family announced an investment of ₹6,661 crore, or $798.65 million, in the company. This was after an infusion of ₹5,000 crore ($599.5 million) by the Adani family into the company for exercising the warrants issuance approved by the board of the company in October 2022.

The fund’s infusion will be instrumental in helping the cement and building material company double its capacity to 140 million tons per annum by 2028. These warrants entitle the Adani Group to purchase a certain number of Ambuja Cements shares at a predetermined price (likely lower than the current market price) within a specified period.

The additional investment will fortify Ambuja Cements’ financial position and enhance the company’s capabilities to pursue its ambitious growth plans and capitalize on emerging opportunities in the market. It will help the company debottleneck capex to improve operational performance and bring efficiencies across resources and the supply chain.

“We are thrilled to announce the completion of the Adani family’s primary infusion of ₹20,000 crore in Ambuja,” said Ajay Kapur, director and chief executive officer of Ambuja Cements.

Barclays Bank PLC, MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank acted as advisors for the transaction.

The Adani Group acquired Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC Ltd from Switzerland’s Holcim Group for $6.4 billion in September 2022. Later, it acquired an additional 26% stake from public shareholders through a ₹31,000 crore ($3.72 billion) open offer.

Ambuja, with its subsidiaries ACC Ltd. and Sanghi Industries Ltd, has taken the Adani Group’s cement capacity to 78.9 million tons per annum with 18 integrated cement manufacturing plants and 19 cement grinding units across the country.

($1= Rs83.54)