India's Aditya Birla Group has started bidding for assets to be sold by LafargeHolcim for the merger. Among them, UltraTech and other subsidiaries are bidding for Lafarge and Holcim's $1.4 billion cement companies in Brazil and the Philippines. As early as three years ago, Aditya Birla Group defined Brazil as an important base for expansion. The Philippines is also one of the overseas countries where the group started its business a few years ago.
The rival bidders include cement companies and private shareholders and fund holders. Rivals have also struck strategic alliances to bolster their bids: HeidelbergCement of Germany has formed a United front with Brazilian cement maker Votorantim Cimentos, and Cemex has formed an alliance with Irish building materials company CRH. Eurocement, the European cement group, has also joined the alliance.
The bid is actually part of Aditya Birla Group's strategic expansion plan, which aims to increase cement production capacity from 63 million tons per year to 70 million tons per year by early 2016.
Aditya Birla generates 53% of its revenue outside India. The group has cement operations in 36 countries. According to insiders, in order to avoid a monopoly situation, Aditya Birla Group's bidding plans in some countries, such as India, may fail.
浙公网安备33010802003254号