Birla Corp's deal with Lafarge India unit falls through

Birla

02/02/2016 14:49

MUMBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - India's Birla Corporation Ltd 
 BRLC.NS , whose business interest include jute and cement, 
plans to take legal action against the Indian unit of 
LafargeHolcim  LHN.VX  after a pact to buy some of the assets of 
the Swiss-French cement giant fell through. 
    In April, LafargeHolcim agreed to divest two of its Indian 
plants to win approval from the local anti-trust regulator to 
merge Indian assets of France's Lafarge and Switzerland's 
Holcim. 
    Birla Corp said in August it had entered into an agreement 
with Lafarge India Private Ltd to buy the two cement businesses 
in eastern India for an enterprise value (equity plus debt) of 
50 billion rupees ($735 million).  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N10S0B2 
    On Tuesday, Birla Corp said in a notice to the Bombay Stock 
Exchange that it had now been informed about Lafarge India 
unit's "inability to proceed" with the transaction. The Indian 
company did not elaborate. 
    "The company has since discussed the matter with its legal 
advisors and has decided not to accept their contention and is 
in the process of taking appropriate legal measures in 
consultation with lawyers," it said. 
    The deal to acquire the two plants would have taken Birla 
Corp's cement production capacity to over 15 million tonnes per 
annum, with a strong presence in the eastern part of India, up 
from about 10 million tonnes now. 
    LafargeHolcim confirmed in a statement it was no longer in 
talks with Birla Corp for the divestment of the Jojobera and 
Sonadih cement plants in eastern India. It said it would inform 
the local anti-trust regulator about the divestment process. 
    ($1 = 67.9982 Indian rupees) 
 
 (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee 
and Mark Potter) 
 ((promit.mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; +91-22-6180-7516; 
Reuters Messaging: 
promit.mukherjee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: BIRLA LAFARGEHOLCIM/INDIA