Displaying items by tag: Sanghi Industries

India: Ambuja Cements has placed a US$100m order for seven 19,000dwt bulk carriers from China-based Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that the vessels will serve logistics operations at the company’s 6.1Mt/yr Sanghi Cement plant in Gujarat.

India: Ambuja Cements will merge its recently acquired companies, Sanghi Industries and Penna Cement Industries. Ambuja Cements purchased Sanghi Industries in December 2023 and Penna Cement in August 2024. Ambuja Cements holds a 58% share in Sanghi Industries and 99.94% share in Penna Cement. The transaction is expected to be completed within 9-12 months, according to the Deccan Herald.

India: Adani Group is considering a merger of Ambuja Cements and ACC into a single entity, Adani Cement, by 2028. Mint News has reported that the group, which began integrating the operations of the two companies recently, may also include Sanghi Industries in the merger. The proposed merger would involve a share swap between the companies, with all existing brand identities retained.

India: Ambuja Cements and Ravi Sanghi plan to launch an offer for sale of a stake in Sanghi Industries. The Times of India newspaper has reported that Ambuja Cements will offer 2.4% of shares and Ravi Sanghi will offer 1.2%, giving a total offer of 3.6%. Following the completion of the intended sale, the companies’ combined stake in Sanghi Industries will drop to 75%, in line with shareholding rules for promoters.

Adani Group’s subsidiary Ambuja Cements signed a deal this week to buy Penna Cement for US$1.25bn. The agreement adds 14Mt/yr of cement production capacity to the group with a focus in the south of India. The acquisition is a big step towards the group’s target of reaching a capacity of 140Mt/yr by 2028. Ajay Kapur, the head of Ambuja Cements, also singled out the advantage the company hopes to gain from taking control of Penna Cement’s terminals saying that they would “prove to be a gamechanger by giving access to the eastern and southern parts of peninsular India.” The move is expected to increase the group’s market share in India by 2%, and by 8% in South India.

Penna Cement operates four integrated plants in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with a capacity of 7Mt/yr. Two of these units also include waste heat recovery installations and one has a captive power plant. It runs two grinding plants in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra with a capacity of 3Mt/yr. Another integrated plant is being built at Jodhpur in Rajasthan and a grinding plant at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Finally, the company owns four bulk cement terminals at Kolkata, Gopalpur, Karaikal and Kochi in India, one at Colombo in Sri Lanka and it also owns a 25,000t cement carrier.

Adani Group’s march towards that target of 140Mt/yr by 2028 started off in mid-2022 when it purchased Ambuja Cements and ACC from Holcim. This gave it a starting capacity of 68Mt/yr in the cement sector. Various smaller additions followed including new plants at Ametha and Dahej and the acquisitions of Asian Cement and Concrete, MyHome Industries and Sanghi Industries. The latter company was the biggest of these purchases. Once the in-progress projects from Penna Cement are built, Adani Group should have a capacity of 93Mt/yr. Another 20Mt/yr is reportedly at various stages of execution. The remaining 27Mt/yr is described as being ‘blueprint ready.’

Generally, the local financial press has been in favour of the transaction agreeing with the geographic advantages of Adani Group increasing its presence in the southern states. The benefits of the high number of railway sidings at Penna Cement’s plants were also commented upon as a means for Ambuja Cements to reduce its costs per tonne of cement. The logistics benefit from the port terminals is also expected by Adani Group’s chief financial officer to reduce the group’s logistics costs with an impact expected within the next year. However, it has been reported that Penna Cement’s operating performance had been weaker in the last financial year due to low sales volumes, poor operational efficiency and high coal costs. A takeover by Adani Group could certainly fix the latter two issues. Yet, it has also been reported that competition in the cement markets in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is up, due to a mismatch between supply and demand. So, improving Penna Cement’s capacity utilisation in these regions might be harder to solve than simply being absorbed into Adani Group.

India’s two largest cement producers both have plans in motion to mount up production capacity by the end of the decade in what has been dubbed ‘the battle of the billionaires.’ The market leader is UltraTech Cement and it has shown reluctance to cede ground to the cement newcomer Adani Group. The former company’s current target is to make it to just under 190Mt/yr by 2027. It said it had a capacity of 152Mt/yr in May 2024. It is ahead of Adani Group by this measure but there is still plenty of scope for surprises. Given the rivalry between the companies there is a regular stream of speculation about which of the smaller cement producers they might be about to buy at any given time. For example, in October 2023 HeidelbergCement India was rumoured to be courting offers from UltraTech Cement, Adani Group and JSW Cement. Last week, Adani Group was reportedly interested in buying either Saurashtra Cement, the cement business of Jaiprakash Associates, Vadraj Cement or… Penna Cement. Occasionally the rumours are true after all. UltraTech Cement remains in first place for now but the situation may change.

India: Sanghi Industries has received shareholder approval to supply its cement and clinker to ACC and Ambuja Cements. Additionally, Sanghi Industries will begin to purchase of coal from fellow Adani Group subsidiary Adani Enterprises, according to the Economic Times newspaper. Under the new arrangements, ACC and Ambuja Cements will sell Sanghi Industries’ cement and clinker under their own brands, at a price 10% above production cost. This is reportedly below industry pricing standards for comparable deals of 25 - 30% higher pricing over costs.

Adani Group subsidiary Ambuja Cements acquired a 57% stake in Sanghi Industries on 5 December 2023.

India: Sanghi Industries has appointed Sukuru Ramarao as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Ravi Sanghi, who was the chair and managing director, following the acquisition of a majority stake in the company by Adani Group subsidiary Ambuja Cements. Sanjay Kumar Khajanchi has been appointed as the chief financial officer, Manish Mistry as company secretary and Ajay Kapur as chair of the company’s board of directors.

Sukuru Ramarao holds over 35 years of professional experience in the building materials sector. He started working for Ambuja Cements in the late 1990s, eventually becoming the company’s chief manufacturing officer in the 2021. He then became the CEO of Adani Group’s cement business in 2023. He holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

Sanjay Kumar Khajanchi has worked for Ambuja Cements for over 20 years, reaching the position of Head - Finance & Controlling in 2021. He holds a bachelors degree in commerce from St Xavier's College in Kolkata, qualifications from the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, as well as various professional financial accreditations.

Manish Mistry has worked with a wide variety of companies for over 15 years including Bell Ceramics, Alembic Group, Cadila Group and GACL before joining Adani Group in 2022. He is a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and holds a degree in commerce and law from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Vadodara, Gujarat.

Ajay Kapur has been the CEO of Adani Group’s cement business since mid-2022. He has worked for over 25 years in the cement sector, originally starting at Ambuja Cements in 1993. He subsequently became the company’s managing director and CEO from 2014 to 2019. He then was the head of the aluminium and power division at Vedanta Group. Kapur holds an undergraduate degree in economics from St Xavier's College, a master of business administration (MBA) degree from the K J Somaiya Institute of Management and has completed the Advanced Management Programme at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

India: Ambuja Cements has completed its acquisition of a 54% stake in Sanghi Industries for an enterprise value of US$622m. It has funded the purchase through internal accruals. Following the acquisition, Ambuja Cement’s parent company, Adani Group, now has a cement capacity of 75Mt/yr, up by 9% from 69Mt/yr. It has also gained 1Bnt of limestone reserves.

Ambuja Cements said that the transaction would allow it to accelerate its coastal strategy in the west of the country with the aim of reaching a regional cement production capacity of 15Mt/yr. It intends to expand the captive port at the Sanghipuram cement plant to accommodate larger vessels to target markets in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala by 2026. Debottlenecking, fuel mix changes and solar and wind projects are also being considering at the site.

India: Sanghi Industries plans to begin marketing its cement with ACC branded packaging. Informist EquityWire News has reported that the shift follows the acquisition of a majority stake in the company by ACC’s fellow Adani Group subsidiary Ambuja Cements in August 2023.

India: Ambuja Cements’ open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake in Sanghi Industries will run from 29 September 2023 to 13 October 2023. Press Trust of India News has reported the value of shares under the offer as up to US$767m. Ambuja Cements concluded a deal to acquire a 57% stake in Sanghi Industries, for the smaller sum of US$603m, on 3 August 2023.