Nirma Group's Nuvoco Vistas acquires 100% stake of Emami Cement for Rs 5500 crores.

Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Limited, India’s leading building materials company and part of the Nirma Group, announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with Emami Group for the acquisition of 100% shareholding of Emami Cement Limited (ECL) for an enterprise value of INR 5500 crores. 

The proposed transaction is subject to approval by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and is expected to be consummated in next 3-4 months.

Emami Cement is one of the fastest-growing Companies in the cement sector and has established its presence with a strong network in a very short span of time. ECL operates one integrated cement plant in Risdah, Chhattisgarh; and 3 grinding units in Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha with a total installed capacity of 8.3 million tonnes per annum; and with mining leases in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

 

With the merger of the Nirmax business in Rajasthan and completion of this acquisition; Nuvoco will become one of the leading cement players in the country and specifically in the East. This will bring its total cement capacity in Eastern, Northern and Western India to 23.5 million tonnes (which includes the ongoing capacity expansion project in its Jojobera plant) and over 60 ready-mix plants. The Company has a substantial presence in slag cement in the East while reinforcing a strong portfolio of PPC and OPC products. The combined operations will span 3 facilities in Chhattisgarh, 2 each in Rajasthan and West Bengal, and 1 each in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Haryana. Nuvoco’s cement sales will spread across 12 states: Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, NCR region, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas acted as the legal advisor, Deloitte Touche Tohamatsu India

LLP acted as the financial diligence advisor and Arpwood Capital acted as the financial

advisor.

Source: Press Release

Note: The owner of TheIndianCapitalist.com is a shareholder of Emami at the time of publishing of the article.

France's Total buys 50% stake in Adani Green's 2GW solar portfolio for $500 million.

As part of its strategy to develop renewable energies, Total is expanding its partnership with Adani Group, India's largest privately-owned energy and infrastructure conglomerate, in order to contribute to the growth of solar power generation in the country.

The Indian government has a strong policy to support the renewable energy growth. India is a founding member for International Solar Alliance and is committed to increase its capacity from 81 gigawatts (GW) in 2019 to 225 GW by 2022.

Total and Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) will create a 50/50 joint venture into which AGEL will transfer its solar assets in operation. These projects are spread over 11 Indian states and have a cumulative capacity of over 2 GW. All the projects benefit from nearly 25-year power purchase agreements (PPA) with national and regional electricity distributors, with a fixed rate.

“Total is fully engaged in the energy transition and to supporting India, a key country in the fight against climate change, in diversifying its energy mix through partnerships in natural gas and now in solar energy," said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman & CEO of Total. “This interest in over 2 GW of solar projects represents another big step of our investment in India's energy sector. It will support our ambition to contribute to the deployment of 25 GW of renewable capacities by 2025. We are thrilled to extend the partnership with the Adani Group to renewable energies, which will allow us to benefit from its in-depth knowledge of the Indian electricity market.”

“We are delighted to extend our long term partnership with TOTAL to our renewable energy business in AGEL. The investment reinforces the immense potential in India’s renewable energy sector, as well as Adani group commitment towards sustainable development. This is a pivotal step in our journey towards building the world’s largest solar power company by 2025 and the world’s largest renewable power company by 2030.” - Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group.

This transaction has a value of approximately $500 million and is in line with the Group’s objective of double-digit returns on renewable projects. It remains subject to the approval of the relevant authorities.

Adani Green is one of the largest renewable companies in India, with a current project portfolio of 6 GW including under construction capacity. Additionally, AGEL participated, as successful bidder in SECI’s tender of manufacturing linked development project for a capacity of 8 GW and awaiting its award.

In October 2019, Total had announced that it was acquire 37.4% stake in Adani Gas for approx Rs 6000 crores.

Source - BSE.

European Investment Bank to invest EUR 600 Million in Pune Metro Line 1 & 2.

The European Investment Bank will invest EUR 600 million in construction of two new lines of the metro rail and acquisition of 102 modern metro cars in the city of Pune, India. The new metro rail system will reduce commuting hours for more than three million people living in the city. This is the fourth EIB investment in metro rail systems in India; to date the EU`s Bank supported metro rail systems in Bhopal, Bangalore and Lucknow. With the Pune investment, the total amount of the EIB approved support for metro rail systems in India reached EUR 2 billion.

Pune metro system will have 31 km of tracks, both over- and underground, with 30 stations, and increase the coverage of the public city transport network. Once completed, the Pune metro rail will create 900 new jobs and allow around 600,000 safer, affordable, punctual, and faster commutes each day.

Pune Metro's Line 1 will be 16.5km long connecting PCMC to Swargate. 14.6km Line 2 will connect Vanaz to Ramwadi.

“Pune metro rail will improve the living conditions of three million people in Pune. It will enable more accessible and affordable access to workplaces, healthcare, education and markets, while protecting the environment and improving the quality of air in the city. This is a good example of how international cooperation and local know-how can make tangible improvement for people and businesses alike, and at the same time contribute to climate action and protection of the environment. I am very proud to see cooperation between Europe and India growing through projects like this.” - Andrew McDowell, Vice President, European Investment Bank.

On top of creating affordable and accessible public transport network and a reliable alternative to heavily congested streets, the new metro will reduce pollution and greenhouse emissions and improve the quality of air across the city. With easier access to the local job market, healthcare and education for the people, Pune metro rail will make a positive impact on the quality of life and doing business.

Maha Metro will be constructing Line 1 and Line 2 whereas PMRDA will be constructing Line 3 on PPP mode. India's Titagarh Wagons Ltd will be providing 102 aluminium rakes for Line 1 and 2 within 30 months under Make In India Metro Rail policy. Pune Metro's Reach 1 (approx 5km) is likely to open for public in April 2020.

Source - EIB. InfraStory.com