The Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group is reportedly among several companies preparing a bid for assets being sold by Holcim and Lafarge as a part of the merger of the two European cement majors.
Aditya Birla Group, which owns Ultratech Cement, is considering submitting a bid by next week’s deadline for the assets, and it is particularly interested in Holcim and Lafarge’s Latin American operations, Bloomberg news agency reported on Tuesday citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.
It could be Aditya Birla Group’s biggest acquisition deal after Hindalco acquired Canadian aluminium maker Novelis in 2007 for nearly $6 billion (Rs. 36,846 crore).
Holcim and Lafarge are selling assets with an enterprise value of €5-7 billion in order to get clearances for the deal from competition regulators around the world.
A spokesperson for Aditya Birla Group refused to comment on market speculation.
Switzerland-based Holcim had in April this year unveiled a deal to buy France’s Lafarge, a move that would create the world’s biggest cement maker with $44 billion in annual sales.
Ultratech, which has an installed cement capacity of 62 million tonnes, has been expanding its operations and building scale.
{{/usCountry}}Ultratech, which has an installed cement capacity of 62 million tonnes, has been expanding its operations and building scale.
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