Adani completes the $6.4 billion acquisition of Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cement and ACC

The Adani Group on Friday completed the acquisition of Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC Ltd from Switzerland’s Holcim Group for $6.4 billion.

The two cement makers together make Adani the second largest cement player in the Indian market only behind Aditya Birla Group’s UltraTech Cement.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, who is now the wealthiest India, also pipped Bernard Arnault and Jeff Bezos to become the second richest person in the world on Friday, behind only Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk, according to Forbes.


The board of Ambuja Cement is scheduled to convene on Friday to discuss raising capital through either debt or equity. This comes amidst wide speculation that there will be a change of guard at the cement maker.

The transaction with Holcim comprised its entire 63.11% stake in Ambuja Cement and 4.48% direct stake in ACC. Ambuja owns a 50.05% interest in ACC.

The stocks of Ambuja Cement and ACC declined 4.17% and 5.1% as of 3:20 pm on Friday following sharp gains in the past one month.

Holcim said that the transaction strengthens its balance sheet and enables it to continue its acquisition strategy.

“I would like to thank our 10,700 Indian colleagues who have played an essential role in the development of our business over the years with their relentless dedication and expertise. I am convinced that the Adani Group is the right home for them as well as for our customers to continue to thrive in the future,” Jan Jenisch, the CEO of Holcim said in a statement.