The deal to take over the Indian assets of global cement major Holcim did not sail through "primarily due to the pricing issue", said Kumar Mangalam Birla, the chief of Aditya Birla Group, while speaking to CNBC TV18 on May 25.
"It would have been nice to have clinched the Holcim deal," added Birla, who was in the race to acquire the Switzerland-based cement maker's India-business along with rivals Adani Group and JSW Group.
"10 billion dollars was too high a price for the deal," Birla told the news channel in Switzerland's Davos, where he is part of the global business leaders who are attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit.
Holcim's India assets were eventually clinched by Adani Group in a $10.5 billion deal, announced on May 16. The acquisition makes the Gautam Adani-headed company the second-largest cement manufacturer in India after Aditya Birla Group’s UltraTech.
UltraTech's margins in the cement business have come down in the last quarter, Birla told CNBC TV-18. "Operating costs have gone up, but commodity prices are a concern globally," he said.
The company will, however, continue to look for expansion and right opportunities in the cement sector, the industry veteran added.
In the paints business, Birla feels his entity has a "natural right to win". They are starting off with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, and "would be a very strong number two in the next five years", he added.
Apart from sounding optimist about his group's business prospects, Birla said he was very "bullish on India". The country's economy would be powered by "two engines of growth - startups and traditional businesses", he claimed.
"India will be the fastest growing economic and that has been recognised," he said, while also discarding the threat posed by the soaring global inflation.
"Inflation is pretty much in control in India," he said, adding that the country is witnessing a "potent time for growth".
Inflation, notably, has climbed to a 40-year-high in the United States. In India, the retail inflation surged to 7.8 percent in April, the highest in 8 years, and wholesale inflation peaked to a 17-year-high of 15.08 percent. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has hiked the interest rates by 40 basis points in a bid to tame the inflation, and is expected to implement a series of similar-sized measures in the period to come.
"Interest states are a dampener, but times call for it," Birla said, while noting that he does "not expect an impact of high interest rates on the Aditya Birla Group".
Birla, who has been effectively leading his family business since 1995, told CNBC TV18 that he would like to "further decentralise and delegate" his responsibilities. "I would like to consider giving my role to one or a team of officials."
"COVID-19 showed us the importance of work life balance...Spending time with family is always something I have focused on," the 54-year-old business magnate further said.
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