Nuvoco Vistas makes Rs 1,800 crore payment to complete Vadraj cement acquisition

Nirma Group's Nuvoco Vistas Corp has completed its acquisition of debt-ridden Vadraj Cement by making a payment of Rs 1800 crore to lenders, led by Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India. This acquisition will boost Nuvoco Vistas' installed cement capacity by over 20%, reaching around 31 MTPA, marking its third acquisition after Lafarge Cement and Emami Cement.
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Nirma Group's Nuvoco Vistas Corp has made the Rs 1800 crore payment to lenders led by Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Union Bank of India completing its acquisition of the debt-ridden Vadraj Cement . The money was paid to lenders on Saturday, allowing them to write back their provisions this quarter, two people aware of the details said."The money came to lenders on Saturday and has been distributed. There were some delays due to some litigation but now that everything is settled, the company transferred the money well ahead of the June 24 deadline," said one of the persons cited above.PNB with 25% of the more than Rs 8000 crore debt stands to gain Rs 431 crore, while Union Bank will get Rs 345 crore, calculations by ET show.The acquisition will help Nuvoco Vistas boost its installed cement capacity by over 20% reaching around 31 MTPA and is the company's third acquisition after Lafarge Cement and Emami Cement. A Mumbai bench of the NCLT had approved the acquisition in April.Gujarat-based Vadraj Cement, formerly owned by ABG Shipyard, has a 6 million tonne grinding unit in Surat and will add to Nuvoco Vistas' existing production capacity of 25 million tonne by more than 20%.The acquisition was undertaken through Vanya Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nuvoco Vistas. Subsequently, Vanya will be merged with Vadraj Cement, according to the resolution plan. Vadraj Cement will ultimately become the wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.Nuvoco's Rs 1,800 crore offer outbid Adani Group at an auction under the court-monitored corporate insolvency, ET had reported in January this year. Adani group-backed Ambuja Cement had partnered with Prudent ARC-backed RKG Fund to acquire the Gujarat-based cement company.Of the Rs 1,800 crore offered by Nuvoco Vistas, Rs 1,725 crore will be used for repaying financial creditors' dues, and the balance is set aside for operational credit, dues to employees, an insolvency resolution process costs.

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