NEW DELHI: India’s Adani Group acquired a controlling stake in Holcim AG’s cement businesses in India in a $10.5 billion deal to become the second biggest cement producer in the country, Adani Group said in a statement on Sunday.

Asia’s richest person Gautam Adani’s conglomerate acquired 63.19% of Ambuja Cements Ltd and its subsidiary ACC in fierce bidding with local companies.

The divestment is the latest move by Holcim as it seeks to reduce its reliance on cement production, an industrial process which produces high levels of carbon emissions and has therefore deterred many environmentally-conscious investors.

In recent years the Switzerland-based company accelerated its efforts to get out of carbon-intensive cement making.

Ambuja and ACC have a combined capacity to produce at least 70 million tonnes of cement annually, second to UltraTech Cement which has 120 million tonnes capacity.

The Adani family, through an offshore special purpose vehicle, had entered into definitive agreements for the acquisition of Holcim Ltd’s entire stake in Ambuja and ACC, the Adani Group said in a statement.

Holcim said in a statement it had signed a binding agreement for the Adani Group to acquire Holcim’s business in India, comprising its stake in Ambuja Cement, which owns a 50.05% interest in ACC, as well as its 4.48% direct stake in ACC.