ACC Ltd, Ambuja Cements stocks close up to 4% higher as Adani Group buys majority stake

Shares of ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements ended in the green today after the Adani Group won the race to acquire India business of Swiss firm Holcim for $10.5 billion (Rs 81,361 crore). Holcim holds 63.19 per cent stake in Ambuja Cements and 4.48 per cent in ACC. Ambuja Cements, in turn, owns 50.05 per cent in ACC.

ACC stock closed 3.70 per cent higher at Rs 2,192 against the previous close of Rs 2113.70 on BSE. Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 41,162 crore. A total of 2.38 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 53.40 crore .

The stock has gained 16.78 per cent in a year but lost 1.15 per cent in 2022. ACC stock stands higher than 50 day and 100 day moving averages but lower than 5 day, 20 day and 200 day moving averages. Earlier, ACC stock opened higher at Rs 2149. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 2,288, rising 8.25 percent on BSE.

On the other hand, shares of Ambuja Cements closed 2.59 per cent higher at Rs 368.10 on BSE.

Earlier, the stock climbed up to 5.21 per cent to Rs 377.5 against the previous close of Rs 358.80 on BSE.

The stock opened with a gain of 3.12 per cent at Rs 370 today. The cement stock trades higher than 5 day, 50 day and 100 day moving averages but lower than 20 and 200 day moving averages.

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Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 73,091 crore. A total of 10.47 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 38.60 crore on BSE. The stock has gained 19.9 per cent in a year but fallen 2.5 percent in 2022.

Adani Group said that it had entered into definitive agreements for the acquisition of Switzerland-based Holcim Ltd's entire stake in two of India's leading cement companies - Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd. The value for the Holcim stake and open offer consideration for Ambuja Cements and ACC is $10.5 billion.

The deal will make Adani group the second-largest player in India's cement industry. UltraTech Cement, a part of Aditya Birla Group, is the market leader in the industry.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani said, "Our move into the cement business is yet another validation of our belief in our nation's growth story. This deal would make Gautam Adani's conglomerate the second-largest player in the domestic cement sector. Adani Group, which is already a ports-to-energy conglomerate, with this deal will also enter the cement sector."

"Not only is India expected to remain one of the world's largest demand-driven economies for several decades, India also continues to be the world's second largest cement market and yet has less than half of the global average per capita cement consumption. In statistical comparison, China's cement consumption is over 7x that of India's. When these factors are combined with the several adjacencies of our existing businesses that include the Adani Group's ports and logistics business, energy business, and real estate business, we believe that we will be able to build a uniquely integrated and differentiated business model and set ourselves up for significant capacity expansion," Adani added.