Gujarat-based soap-to-soda ash manufacturer, Nirma Ltd, has agreed to acquire Swiss building materials company Lafarge India's cement assets for over $1.4 billion. The behemoth, built out of the 2015 Lafarge-Holcim merger, includes three plants and two grinding units with a total capacity of about 11 million tonnes per annum to Nirma, subject to approval by the Competition Commission of India.
Nirma's Managing Director Hiren Patel said, "With a strong platform like Lafarge's India business, we plan to take the cement business to the next level." The Ahmedabad-based company currently operates a 2 MTPA cement unit. The additional boost will help it benefit from an expected surge in infrastructure construction as India aims to boost spending on the key sector to about 8.1 per cent of GDP by 2012-22, as per an IMF Working Paper.
Lafarge said the agreement was a key requirement for the company to win approval from India's competition regulator for the worldwide merger announced last year. "We are confident that we will meet our target by the end of this year," said Eric Olsen, CEO, LafargeHolcim. "With the proposed buyer we have found the right partner who will be able to develop the business further in the interest of all our stakeholders." The Zurich-based company will continue to operate in India through ACC Ltd. and Ambuja Cements Ltd. with a combined capacity of more than 60 million tonnes and a nationwide distribution network, making it the second largest cement player in the country.
