• Source:PTI

The Adani family, the promoters of Ambuja Cements, announced on Thursday that they will be injecting Rs 6,661 crore into the company, increasing their stake by 3.6 percent to 66.7 percent. Ambuja Cements is the second-largest cement company in the country.

According to a statement from billionaire Gautam Adani-owned Ambuja Cements, the infusion of funds will be instrumental for the cement business of the Adani Group, which plans to increase its capacity to 140 million tonnes per annum by 2028.

This investment follows an infusion of Rs 5,000 crore by the promoters into the company in October 2022 to exercise the warrants issuance approved by the board.

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As per the statement, after the acquisition, promoters infused Rs 11,661 crore in Ambuja, which will allow the firm to have the required capital to accelerate growth and pursue other strategic initiatives such as capital management initiatives.

"The additional investment will fortify the company's financial position, providing it with enhanced capabilities to pursue its ambitious growth plans and capitalize on emerging opportunities in the market," it said.

This investment shall also be instrumental in spurring numerous strategic initiatives, including the undertaking of debottlenecking capex to improve operational capabilities, ensure scalability, and enhance resource and supply chain efficiencies.

"This shall also drive innovation and product enhancement through advanced technology integration for better service offerings to tap the growing requirements of the sector," it said.

Ajay Kapur, the Chief Executive Officer of Ambuja Cements, said that this injection of funds provides "flexibility for fast-tracked growth, capital management initiatives, and best-in-class balance sheet strength."

"It is not only the testament to a steadfast belief in our vision and business model but also reinforces our commitment to delivering long-term sustainable value creation to our stakeholders and this shall propel us towards setting new benchmarks accelerating our growth and continue to deliver on operational excellence, business synergies and cost leadership," he said.

Ambuja, together with its subsidiaries ACC Ltd, can produce 77.4 million tonnes of cement per year from 18 integrated cement manufacturing plants and 18 cement grinding units across the country. It had recently purchased Sanghi Industries Ltd.

In September 2022, the Adani Group bought controlling stakes in Ambuja Cement from Swiss firm Holcim for cash proceeds of USD 6.4 billion (approximately Rs 51,000 crore). Later, it also launched a Rs 31,000 crore open offer to purchase an additional 26% stake from public shareholders.

(With PTI Input)

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