Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairperson of Aditya Birla, is reportedly looking at ways to make a bid for ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements that Holcim intends to divest, according to The Economic Times.
UltraTech Cement (Aditya Birla Group) may look to expand its leading position in the market as any producer that picks up the Holcim assets in India will automatically become a contender to UltraTech Cement, as Holcim is the second-largest player in the Indian cement sector. However, analysts believe UltraTech would have to divest some of its legacy assets to make a bid as market dominance would become an issue in the states of in Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra.
Sajjan Jindal, CEO of JSW Cement, and Gautam Adani, chairperson of Adani Group, are also looking to enter the race to buy the Holcim assets, according to The Economic Times.
Of India's 540Mta of cement capacity, UltraTech has 117Mta, while ACC and Ambuja together are at 66Mta.
