UltraTech to buy Jaiprakash cement plants for $852 million

Mumbai: UltraTech Cement has agreed to buy two cement plants from Jaiprakash Associates for 54 billion rupees ($852 million) including debt, the companies said on Tuesday.

Both the plants are Madhya Pradesh. The acquisition will create significant synergies for UltraTech, the country's leading cement maker, it said in a statement.

It will initially raise UltraTech's cement capacity in India to 65 million tonnes per year from 60 million tonnes, with this figure expected to rise to 71 million tonnes a year by 2016, the company added.

Jaiprakash has been selling assets in recent quarters to cut its heavy debt load and improve its balance sheet. It said that - including the latest deal - it had sold assets worth more than 200 billion rupees and that it would now shift focus to making operational savings. Jaiprakash will remain the country's third-biggest cement producer after the plant sales, with a capacity of 22 million tonnes a year, it added.