India’s CCI approves Synergy fund’s stake-buy in JSW Cement
10:27, 15 July 2021
India’s competition regulator approved the stake acquisition in JSW Group’s cement-making business by UAE-based private equity firm Synergy Capital on Wednesday, according to a press release by the former.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) received a notice relating to acquisition of equity stake in JSW Cement under green channel and “it is deemed approved,” said the release. The green channel route is an automatic approval system of the CCI.
The acquirer is the investment fund of its ultimate controlling entity Synergy Metals and Mining Fund I. Synergy Fund invests in the industrials, metals and the power sectors globally, according to the release.
Getting ready to list
JSW Cement is a part of the $12bn JSW Group, a conglomerate bassed in west India, whose business interests span steel manufacturing, energy generation and infrastructure development, among others.
Both parties did not disclose the terms of the deal. But, a report in The New Indian Express said the sale of a stake to Synergy could be part of JSW Cement’s proposal to offload shares worth $200 million to investors as it prepares to list itself in Indian markets.
JSW Cement manufactures cement, concrete and related products at five sites in India. The company’s factories utilize slag from steel manufacturing units to make Portland slag or mixed cement and ground granulated blast furnace slag.
In June, the firm entered the ready-mix concrete (RMC) business with its first commercial unit in Mumbai city. Three additional RMC units will be built in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, it said in a statement last month.