Ambuja, Orient Cement climb after merger plan, ACC slips

Shares of Ambuja Cements and Orient Cement rose by 2.03% to 4.94% after Ambuja Cements announced a major consolidation plan.

Orient Cement climbed 4.94% to Rs 171.95. Ambuja Cements gained 2.03% to Rs 550.95. However, ACC fell 0.78% to Rs 1762.

In a regulatory filing, Ambuja said its board has approved schemes to amalgamate ACC and Orient Cement into Ambuja Cements. The move will create a single pan-India cement platform. The transaction is subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and is expected to be completed within one year.

Under the proposed share swap, Ambuja will issue 328 equity shares of face value Rs 2 each for every 100 ACC shares of face value Rs 10 each. Orient Cement shareholders will receive 33 Ambuja shares of face value Rs 2 each for every 100 shares of Orient Cement with face value Re 1.

 

The company said the merger will improve operational efficiency by optimising manufacturing and logistics networks. It is also expected to simplify the corporate structure and enable better capital allocation. Ambuja estimates cost optimisation and margin improvement of at least Rs 100 per metric tonne from the merger.

Karan Adani, non-executive director of Ambuja Cements, said the consolidation will strengthen scale, efficiency and long-term competitiveness of the cement business.

Post-amalgamation, Ambuja aims to support its expansion plan to raise cement capacity from about 107 MTPA to 155 MTPA by FY28. The company added that the Ambuja and ACC brands will continue to operate independently in their respective markets.

Ambuja Cements is the world's ninth-largest building materials solutions company and part of the Adani Group. It has a cement capacity of about 107 MTPA, supported by 24 integrated plants and 22 grinding units across India. The company is investing in decarbonisation initiatives, including 1 GW of renewable energy and 376 MW of waste heat recovery systems planned by FY28.

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