Adani to acquire Holcim India assets for USD 10.5 bn

Asia's richest man Gautam Adani's group on Sunday said it has clinched a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Holcim Ltd's businesses in India for USD 10.5 billion, marking ports-to-energy conglomerate's entry into the cement sector.

Adani has in the last couple of years diversified beyond core business of operating ports, power plants and coal mines into airports, data centres and clean energy.

The group last year set up two cement subsidiaries - Adani Cementation Ltd which was planning to set up two cement units at Dahej in Gujarat and Raigarh in Maharashtra; and Adani Cement Ltd.

The deal will make billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate the second largest player in the domestic cement sector with acquiring the joint control of Holcim's two Indian step-down firms ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cement.