Industry Odisha Bureau, May 23: Succeeding eventually in its third attempt, India’s fourth-largest cement producer is reportedly all set to acquire from Adani Group the total cement assets originally belonging to bankrupt Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) by striking a deal reportedly vauled at Rs 2,850 crore.
As per media reports, the Dalmia Bharat Limited official statement of Dalmia Bharat Limited reads: “Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd has executed a business transfer agreement with Jaiprakash Associates and Adani Infra (India) Ltd for acquisition of the cement undertaking at an enterprise value of ₹2,850 crore.”
Describing the acquisition, Dalmia Bharat Limited’s CEO Puneet Dalmia reportedly said, “This serves as a great strategic fit for Dalmia. It helps us move forward in our journey to be a pan-India player and provide a strong head start to serve the high-potential markets in the Central region.”
Following the deal, Dalmia Bharat Limited will now reportedly acquire JAL’s cement plants at “Rewa in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Churk, Chunar and Sadwa in Uttar Pradesh (UP).”
Apart from the JAL’s above-mentioned cement manufacturing units, Dalmia Bharat Limited would also reportedly own the “99 MW thermal power capacity and railway sidings at Rewa (in MP) and Chunar (in UP).”
Reportedly, Dalmia Bharat Limited’s “first agreement valued at Rs 5,666 crore had collapsed in December 2022 when JAL entered insolvency proceedings.”
Later on, Dalmia Bharat Limited reportedly “rebid for the JAL assets during the insolvency proceedings, but lost to the Adani Group as the Adani Group acquired the insolvent JAL assets under a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)-approved resolution plan worth ₹14,535 crore, defeating rival bidders including Vedanta and Dalmia Bharat.”
However, Dalmia Bharat Limited reportedly “made a request following the approval of Adani Group’s resolution plan that the former’s earlier agreement of 2022 be reconsidered in order to settle the pending disputes.”
Notably, Dalmia Bharat Limited now reportedly expects its “total cement capacity to reach 66.7 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by December 2027 following the JAL acquisition along with the reportedly ongoing expansion projects at Belgaum in Karnataka, Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh and Pune in Maharashtra.
