Dalmia Bharat to acquire Jaiprakash Associates Ltd

Following CemNet's Jaiprakash Associates Ltd news story on Monday, Dalmia Bharat Cement has announced the acquisition of the cement assets of Jaypee Group's flagship company Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) and its associate company's at an enterprise value of INR56,660m (US$).

In a regulatory filing, Dalmia Bharat informed that its wholly-owned subsidiary Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd (DCBL) has entered into a "binding framework agreement for the acquisition of clinker, cement and power plants from Jaiprakash Associates Ltd and its associate company."

The deal includes a total cement capacity of 9.4Mta, along with clinker capacity of 6.7Mta and thermal power plants of 280MW at an enterprise value of INR56660m, it added.

"These assets are situated in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," said Dalmia Bharat. The acquisition will help Dalmia to expand its footprint into the central region, it added.

Besides, it will also "represent a significant step towards realisation of its vision to emerge as a pan-India cement company with a capacity of 75Mt by FY27 and 110-130Mt by FY31," it added.

In October JAL and Jaiprakash Power Ventures had announced plans to divest their cement business as well as some non-core assets to reduce debt. The transaction is subject to due diligence, requisite approvals from lenders/JV partner of JAL and regulatory authorities, it added.