MNCs have been scouting for cement companies for quite some time. The sector witnessed quite a few takeovers in the last five years. More are expected in the coming days as several small and medium cement firms are still up for grabs.In April 2000, Lafarge, the French cement major, entered into an agreement with Raymond Ltd to acquire its cement division in eastern India for Rs 785 crore in an all-cash deal. The division has a 2.24 mn tonne per annum (mtpa) plant at Bilaspur and with this buy, Lafarge’s total cement capacity in India will be 4.24 mtpa. The Bilaspur plant is a dry process one with ISO 14002 certification to its credit.Last month, European cement major Italcementi Group agreed to buy 50 per cent of the equity in Zuari Cement, a unit of the KK Birla group’s Zuari Industries. The price: Rs 370 crore. The deal had valued Zuari Cement, which has a 1.7-million-tonne plant at Yerraguntala in Andhra Pradesh, at Rs 740 crore.But the biggest takeover so far has been the Aditya Birla group’s controversial takeover of Larsen & Toubro’s cement unit. The Birlas took a 51.5 per cent interest in a 16.5 million tonne company (now known as Ultratech) for a net investment of Rs 2,200 crore.After this deal, the Birlas emerged as India’s largest cement group with a combined capacity of 31 million tonnes.Holcim was eyeing the growing Indian market for a long time. Mysore Cements, a unit of Sudarshan Birla group, is looking for a buyer for a long time. With Holcim’s entry into the Indian cement sector by buying ACIL and ACC, the industry is divided into two distinct groups. One is led by Grasim while the other will be dominated by multinational Holcim. Grasim is expected to buy Century Textiles’ cement division from his grandfather B K Birla group. With this, A V Birla can emerge as the largest cement company in the world.
