Adani

Consolidation in the cement industry continues, with Adani-owned Ambuja Cements announcing a 100 per cent acquisition of Hyderabad-based Penna Cements Industries Limited (PCIL) for an Enterprise value of ₹10,422 crore. With an operational and to be commercialised capacity of 14 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), the PCIL deal is valued at $89 per tonne, which is marginally below the replacement cost of $90-100 per tonne for similar capacities. Ambuja can increase its Southern market share with the deal, which can be value-accretive if the expansion pans out.

Adani Enterprises’ shares have reclaimed the levels seen in January last year, prior to the damaging allegations levelled by short-seller hedge fund Hindenburg Research against the group triggering a sell-off in group stocks that wiped off billions of dollars of investor wealth.

BSE Sensex rose by 229.47 pts or 0.32 per cent to trade at 73,005.60 as of 12.35 pm; and Nifty 50 was up 84.65 pts or 0.38 per cent at 22,188.70.