Apollo Global Management is doubling down on Sajjan Jindal led JSW Group, joining Synergy Metals Investments for a Rs 1500 crore capital raise in the conglomerate’s cement business run by his son Parth, to fund its growth plans to become a 25 million tonnes scaled operations, said people in the know. The capital raise coincides with an uptick in demand from real estate and construction after lockdown resulting in most cement stocks outperform the Nifty over the past month and past year.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the stake acquisition in JSW Cement by Synergy Metals Investments Holding, a Dubai-based investment fund, under the green channel route. Green channel is an automatic approval system, whereby a combination is deemed to have been approved by the CCI upon receiving the filing of the notice for the combination by the parties concerned. Private equity funds Apollo Global Management and Advent International are also in the race, the source said. When contacted, JSW Cement declined to comment on the development. JSW Cement had already drawn an ambitious plan to expand its combined cement capacity to 25 million tonnes by 2023 at a capex of Rs 3,600 crore. The company is in process of raising around Rs 1,500 crore through PE route by this fiscal.

News Source : Construction World