Jaypee acquisition led by desire to straddle entire country: KM Birla

Interview with Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group

Fifteen months after announcing the acquisition of 21.2 mtpa of cement capacity from Jaiprakash Associates, the Aditya Birla Group’s UltraTech Cement on Thursday completed the transaction valued at Rs 16,189 crore. UltraTech is now the fourth-largest private cement company in the world. Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, 50, tells Dev Chatterjee how the acquisition will help his company increase market share and why Premji Invest decided to pump money into his soon-to-be-listed financial services business. Edited excerpts:

What excites you about this acquisition and how will this add value for UltraTech’s shareholders? 

The acquisition fills a gap in our geographical