Adani Group in talks to buy Jaiprakash's cement unit for Rs 5,000 crore: Report

By Gargi Chaudhry | First Published Oct 10, 2022, 4:55 PM IST

Adani Group is in advanced talks to buy debt-laden Jaiprakash Associates Ltd’s cement business for $606 million. The acquisition will be made by one of Adani Group’s recently acquired cement units, with an announcement expected as early as this week.

Billionaire Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Group is in advanced discussions to purchase the cement division of debt-ridden Jaiprakash Associates Ltd for $606 million. The ports-to-power conglomerate could pay about 50 billion rupees ($606 million) for a cement grinding unit and other smaller assets, said the people familiar with the situation.

Separately, Jaiprakash Associates said that its board of directors had authorised the sale of the company's cement business, but did not identify the identity of a possible buyer or the price. According to Bloomberg, the acquisition will be made by one of Adani Group's newly acquired cement divisions, with an announcement planned as early as this week, but the discussions might still be delayed or fall through.

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The transaction will help to cement the Adani Group's sudden dominance in the cement sector, which began in May when it purchased Ambuja Cements Ltd. and ACC Ltd. from Switzerland's Holcim Ltd., becoming India's second-largest cement maker virtually overnight with an installed production capacity of 67.5 million tonnes per year.

The Adani Group entered the cement manufacturing sector earlier this year when it paid $10.5 billion for the Ambuja Cements Ltd. and ACC cement companies owned by Holcim AG in India. The organisation, headed by Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, is aiming to grow its infrastructure and power production businesses.

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Media reports suggest that Gautam Adani and his family are in preliminary talks with investors, including Singapore investment giants Temasek and GIC, to raise at least $10 billion to finance an expansion into the renewable energy, ports, and cement industries. The majority of the money would be spent on the energy transition industry, according to recent statements made by Gautam Adani.

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