LafargeHolcim acquires chunk of Ambuja, ACC shares worth Rs 1,832 cr

New Delhi: Swiss cement giant LafargeHolcim has acquired 3.91 crore shares in Ambuja Cement and 78.70 lakh in ACC, which at today’s closing price on BSE is worth more than Rs 1,832 crore. “LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holderind Investments Ltd has increased its shareholding in Ambuja Cement by 39,100,000 shares to 12,53,156,361 (63.11 percent of total Ambuja shares) and in ACC Ltd by 78,70,000 shares to 84,11,000 (4.48 percent of total ACC shares),” Ambuja Cement and ACC said in separate regulatory filings.  Ambuja Cement today fell 3.60 percent to close at Rs 202.40 on BSE while that of ACC declined 1.80 percent to settle at Rs 1,322.30. “Purchase price will be paid in Indian rupees. The impact on LafargeHolcim’s net debt is CHF 325 million (about Rs 2,200 crore). This investment was not included in the group’s net debt objective of around CHF 13 billion at the end of 2016, which should be adjusted accordingly,” the filing said. As per data available on BSE, as on September 30, Holderind Investments held 61.62 percent stake in Ambuja Cements and 0.29 percent stake in ACC. Cement maker ACC is a subsidiary of Ambuja, which became effective post merger of Ambuja Cements and Holcim (India) Pvt Ltd (HIPL) in August this year. Following the merger, promoters of ACC are Ambuja Cements and Holderind Investments Ltd, with LafargeHolcim (formerly known as Holcim Ltd, Switzerland) being part of the promoter group and ultimate holding company of ACC. LafargeHolcim said India is one of its key markets with very solid long-term fundamentals and a clear potential for further improvement in business performance. “These share purchases further increase the group’s interest in its two strong companies which constitute a solid platform… to capture future growth,” it added. In July this year, LafargeHolcim had said it would sell its stake in Lafarge India to Nirma Ltd for an enterprise value of about $1.4 billion. Lafarge India operated 3 cement plants and two grinding stations with a capacity of about 11 million tonnes per year. LafargeHolcim continued to operate in India through its subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cements, which have a combined cement capacity of more than 60 million tonnes.