Dalmia looking at M&As, India
Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd (DCBL), second largest producer from the southern region, is evaluating options to buy out cement companies.
DCBL had charted plans to launch a 10Mta capacity in 2008 through its wholly owned subsidiary, Dalmia Cement Ventures Ltd (DCVL), which never took off. It was looking at setting up plants in Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, with investment of about INR4200 crore.
It did not set proceed with these and is looking at a spread of new projects and mergers & acquisitions (M&As) from the money it received through private equity infusion.
Puneet Dalmia, managing director, DCBL, says, “After the KKR investment, we have made significant progress in land acquisitions, land clearances and acquiring limestone reserves. We want to deepen our footprint in south and east India. Since 2008, we saw the global economy melting down, a lot of new players entering the market and some players struggle, which gives space to lot of M&A opportunities. So, after the KKR opportunity, we are looking at a mix of greenfield (new projects) and potential M&A opportunity. We have put aside some capital for the same. Though we really cannot put a hard number on how much capital we are putting aside, KKR has a large balance sheet and we will be able to do acquisitions.” Published under Cement News
