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KKR, UltraTech & Dalmia in race to buy Jaypee’s cement business in Rs 18,000¬crore Deal

US buyout firm KKR and India's largest cement maker, Ultra­Tech, are in the race to acquire the cement division of Jaiprakash Associates, two people familiar with the matter said. Besides these two, Dalmia Bharat Cement has also put in a bid. Each of the non­binding bids has put an enterprise value in excess of Rs 18,000 crore on the 21­million­tonne­a­year business, the people said. The suitors are expected to enter into separate agreements shortly to initiate due diligence that will be completed in the next four weeks. Post that, one of the contenders will likely enter into a binding agreement before this fiscal year­end, said one of the people. Banks that have huge exposure to debt­ridden Jaiprakash Associates are keen to complete the transaction by March 31 to avoid fresh slippage in non­performing assets, the person added. "Cement business is the main cash cow for Jaiprakash Associates that has debt of about Rs 28,000 crore. Even if they manage to reduce the debt by Rs 18,000 crore, it will be left with about Rs 10,000 crore of debt, which is a big number," said this person.