ACC LTD.

(ACC) - COMPANY HISTORY

ACC Ltd is India's foremost manufacturer of cement and concrete. The company is engaged
in the manufacture and selling of cement and ready-mixed concrete. They manufacture a range
of Portland cement for general construction and special applications. In addition they also offer
two products namely; bulk cement and ready mix concrete. The company's operations are spread
throughout the country with 17 modern cement factories more than 57 Ready mix concrete plants
21 sales offices several zonal offices and a vast distribution network of over 11000 dealers. Their
subsidiaries include ACC Concrete Ltd Bulk Cement Corporation (India) Ltd ACC Mineral
Resources Ltd Lucky Minmat Ltd National Limestone Co Pvt. Ltd and Encore Cements &
Additives Pvt Ltd.ACC Ltd was incorporated on August 1 1996 as The Associated Cement
Companies Ltd. The company was formed by merger of ten existing cement companies. In the
year 1944 they established India's first entirely indigenous cement plant at Chaibasa in Bihar. In
the year 1956 they established bulk cement depot at Okhla Delhi. In the year 1965 the company
established Central Research Station at Thane. In the year 1973 they acquired The Cement
Marketing Company of India. In the year 1978 they introduced energy efficient precalcinator
technology for the first time in India. In the year 1982 the company commissioned their first 1
MTPA plant in the country at Wadi Karnataka. In the year 1982 the company incorporated Bulk
Cement Corporation of India a joint venture with the Government of India. In the year 1993 they
started commercial manufacture of Ready Mixed Concrete at Mumbai. In the year 1999 they
commissioned captive power plants at the Jamul and Kymore plants in Madhya Pradesh.The
house of TATA was intimately associated with the company upto 1999. In the year 1999 the
Tata Group sold their 7.2% stake in the company to Ambuja Cement Holdings Ltd a subsidiary
of Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd and in the year 2000 Tata group sold their remaining stake in
the company to Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd. In the year 2001 the company commissioned a
new plant of 2.6 MTPA capacity at Wadi Karnataka. In the year 2003 IDCOL Cement Ltd
becomes a subsidiary of the company which was renamed as Bargarh Cement Ltd during the
year 2004. In the year 2004 the company was named as Consumer Superbrand by the
Superbrands Council of India becoming the only cement company to get this status.In 2005 ACC
Limited along with Ambuja Cements Limited became a part of the reputable Holcim group of
Switzerland. In 2005 ACC completed the modernization and expansion project at Chaibasa in
Jharkhand replacing old wet process technology with a new 1.2 MTPA clinkering unit together
with a captive power plant of 15 MW. In the year 2006 the subsidiary companies Damodhar
Cement & Slag Ltd Bargarh Cement Ltd and Tarmac (India) Ltd merged with the company. Also
the name of the company was changed from The Associated Cement Companies Ltd to ACC Ltd
with effect from September 1 2006. In the year 2007 the company commissioned wind energy
farm in Tamilnadu. In July 2007 the company sold their entire shareholding in their wholly
owned subsidiary ACC Nihon Castings Ltd at a consideration of Rs 30 crore to V N Enterprises
Ltd of Hindustan Udyog Group. In the year 2008 the ready mixed concrete business was hived
off to a new subsidiary called ACC Concrete Ltd. They acquired 40% stake in Alcon Cement
Company Pvt Ltd to strengthen their presence in Goa. Also they acquired 12.41% equity shares
of Bulk Cement Corporation (India) Ltd from IDBI Bank Ltd thereby increasing their
shareholding in the said subsidiary company to 94.65%.In March 2008 the company sold their
wholly owned subsidiary ACC Machinery Company Ltd for a consideration of Rs 45 crore. In
July 7 2008 they inaugurated ACC Cement Technology Institute at Jamul. In the year 2009 the
company commissioned one 15 MW CPP as a part of Bargarh plant expansion. The additional
captive power generating capacity of 50 MW in Wadi 15 MW in Bargarh and 25 MW in Chanda
is scheduled to be commissioned and stabilized in 2010. They inaugurated new Grinding plant of
capacity 1.60 million tonnes at Thondebhavi in Karnataka. During the year the company
acquired 100% equity stake in National Limestone Company Pvt Ltd making it as a wholly
owned subsidiary of the company. Also they acquired 100% equity stake in Encore Cements &
Additives Pvt Ltd which has a slag grinding plant in Vishakhapatnam in coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Consequently ECAPL became a wholly owned subsidiary of the company with effect from
January 28 2010.In September 2009 the company installed and commissioned a coal washery in
Jamul. Also the company is in the process of commissioning a coal washery in the Bargarh plant
in 2010. In January 4 2010 Kudithini Cement Grinding Plant was inaugurated in Karnataka with
a capacity of 1.1 MTPA of Portland Slag Cement.In April 2010 the company commissioned a
2.5-MW wind energy farm near Satara Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 13 crore. The wind farm has
two 1.5-MW turbines. The power from the wind farm will be supplied through a wheeling
arrangement to the company's Thane Complex and Bulk Cement Corporation (India) Ltd a
subsidiary company at Kalamboli near Mumbai.In the year 2010 the company commissioned the
the 2.5 MW wind mill project in Maharashtra. Also they commissioned one CPP of 25 MW at
Wadi two 15 MW CPPs at Bargarh and one 25 MW CPP at Chanda during the year. The
company through their wholly owned subsidiary ACC Mineral Resources Ltd entered into joint
venture agreements with Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation Ltd for development of four
coal blocks.In April 2010 the company completed the acquisition of a 45% equity stake in Asian
Concrete and Cements Pvt Ltd. This company commenced production from their new grinding
unit during the year. In June 2010 the Financial Express-EVI Green Business Leadership Award
2009-10 was conferred on ACC Ltd for being the 'Best Performer' in the cement category. This
award is an acknowledgement of ACC's commitment towards its environmental friendly
initiatives in the country.In November 2010 the company commissioned the world's largest kiln
with a capacity of 12500 tpd at Wadi in the State of Karnataka. They commenced trial
production in the clinkering unit at Chanda in Maharashtra having a kiln capacity of 7000 tpd
and commenced commercial production during the first quarter of the financial year 2011.In the
year 2011 the company installed the world's largest kiln at Wadi Karnataka with a capacity of
12500 tonnes per day. The Operations of the state-of-the-art kiln at Wadi and the cement
grinding plants at Kudithini and Thondebhavi stabilized during the year. The new clinkering unit
at Chanda in Maharashtra also stabilized its operations during the year. The cement mill at
Chanda was successfully commissioned during the year under review and commercial operations
have commenced in January 2012 after appropriate ramping up.In November 2011 the
Secretarial and Share Departments of the company received an ISO 9001-2008 certification from
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) AS Certification Services. During the year the company made an
application to the Honorable High Court of Judicature at Bombay for approval to a scheme of
amalgamation of three of the company's wholly owned subsidiaries viz. Encore Cement and
Additives Pvt Ltd Lucky Minmat Ltd and National Limestone Company Pvt Ltd. On 29
February 2012 ACC announced that the company has decided to set up a new clinker production
facility of 2.79 MTPA and allied grinding facility at Jamul in Chhattisgarh to meet the growing
demand for cement in the Eastern region. The existing clinkering and grinding lines at Jamul will
be phased out. The company is also planning decentralized grinding stations which will use
clinker produced at Jamul. The project will be implemented in a phased manner and scheduled
for completion by Q1 2015.On 24 November 2012 ACC announced the introduction of two
breakthrough solutions UTWT 24 and Speedcrete for instant road surface overlay and repair in
India. UTWT 24 and Speedcrete are integrated novel solutions comprising of amorphous
materials and contain cement modified polymers mineral & chemical admixtures that help in
quickly achieving desired properties of concrete.On 13 December 2012 the Board of Directors of
the company approved the payment of Technology and Knowhow fees to its parent firm Holcim
Limited Switzerland at the rate of 1% of the net annual sales of the company with effect from 1
January 2013. In 2012 ACC launched M-100 grade concrete especially designed for the
construction of high intensity towers. During the year ACC became the first cement company in
India to induct use of Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) and Global Positioning
System (GPS) tracking to accelerate turnaround time of trucks.In 2013 ACC set up Green
Building Material Centres in Maharashtra Uttar Pradesh Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as one
stop shops to promote low-cost locally made green construction materials and expertise to rural
and semi-urban India.In January 2014 ACC launched its first Waste Heat Recovery System
(WHRS) at Gagal marking an important step in energy conservation. The WHRS harnesses
waste heat from exhaust gases discharged in manufacturing and converts it into useful electrical
energy. During the year ACC set up a plant in Bardhaman West Bengal to manufacture
EcoBricks which are eco-friendly and technically superior fly ash based bricks to meet the
emerging needs of the construction industry in a sustainable way.In 2015 ACC's parent company
Holcim Limited and Lafarge SA came together in a merger of equals to form LafargeHolcim.
During the year ACC set up two waste pre-processing plants at Wadi in Maharashtra and
Kymore in Madhya Pradesh to enhance its usage of industrial wastes.At the time of
announcement of its financial performance for the April-June 2016 quarter ACC announced that
commercial production of clinker from the new 9000 tpd kiln at Jamul Chhattisgarh commenced
from 19 July 2016. With effect from 12 August 2016 Ambuja Cements Limited (ACL) replaced
Holcim (India) Private Limited (HIPL) as one of the promoters of ACC following the
implementation of a scheme of amalgamation between ACL and HIPL. As on 12 August 2016
ACL held 50.05% stake in ACC. Holderind Investments Limited (HIL) continues to remain a
promoter of ACC with 0.29% stake as on 12 August 2016. LafargeHolcim Ltd. continues to
remain the ultimate holding company and part of the promoter group of ACC.At the time of
announcement of its financial performance for the July-September 2016 quarter ACC announced
that it commissioned new 2.79 million tonnes clinkering line and a 1.1 million tonnes cement
grinding unit at Jamul in Chhattisgarh during the quarter. On 24 October 2016 ACC
commissioned a 1.35 million tonnes cement grinding unit at Sindri in Jharkhand completing the
new integrated project with its clinkering line of 2.79 million tonnes and grinding unit of 1.1
million tonnes at Jamul in Chhattisgarh. The new units will strengthen the company's market
presence especially in the eastern region.On 16 November 2016 ACC announced that one of its
promoters Holderind Investments Limited (HIL) has purchased 78.7 lakh shares constituting
4.19% of the equity shares of the company through open market purchases. Post the transaction
HIL's stake in ACC increased to 4.48% from 0.29% and the total promoter holding company
increased to 54.53% from 50.34%. HIL is a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim (LH) the ultimate
holding company and part of the promoter group of ACC. On 10 March 2017 ACC announced
that it has sold its entire shareholding comprising 2.36 crore equity shares of Shiva Cement
Limited representing 12.13% of the total share capital of Shiva Cement Limited to JSW Cement
Limited in an off market transaction for a total consideration of Rs 38.66 crore. The shares were
sold at price of Rs 16.35 per share. Earlier ACC and JSW Cement had entered into a Share
Purchase Agreement on 15 February 2017 for the sale of Shiva Cement shares. On 26 February
2018 ACC announced that on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation carried out by a Special
Committee of Directors and the Board of Directors of the company the Board decided not to
proceed with a merger of the company and Ambuja Cements (ACL) - the promoter and the
holding company of ACC. ACC said in a statement that there are certain constraints in
implementing merger between the company and ACC at present. However merger with ACL
remains the ultimate objective ACC said. In the meanwhile the Board has approved an
arrangement with ACL for mutual purchase and sale of materials and services with the intention
to maximize synergies between the companies and to unlock value for the shareholders of both
the companies. Earlier on 5 May 2017 ACC had announced the formation of Special Committee
of Directors to explore the possibility of a merger between the company and ACL with a view to
combine the strengths of both businesses so as to benefit all stakeholders.During the year 2018
RMX business expanded its footprint by adding 18 new Plants. These Plants are located in high
contribution and high EBITDA margin markets across the country. With this addition the
nationwide network of RMX Plants comprises of 75 state-of-the-art Plants.The National
Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) vide its judgment dated 25th July 2018 has
dismissed the appeal of the Company upholding the levy of penalty of Rs1147.59 crore as
imposed by the Competition Commission of India vide its Order dated 31st August 2016. The
NCLAT initially vide its Order dated 7th November 2016 had stayed the operation of the CCI's
Order subject to deposit of 10% of the penalty amount. The Company has preferred an appeal
before the Hon'ble Supreme Court against the above Order of NCLAT. The Hon'ble Supreme
Court vide its Order dated 5th October 2018 has admitted the Company's civil appeal and
ordered for continuance of the interim orders passed by NCLAT towards stay on the demand
subject to deposit of 10% of the penalty amount. The matter is still subjudice.