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Ambuja Cements seals CCI nod for game-changing Orient Cement buyout
MUMBAI: Adani-backed Ambuja Cements Ltd, one of India’s top cement makers, has laid the groundwork by securing the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) approval for its acquisition of Orient Cement Ltd. With this regulatory nod, Ambuja is all set to mortar its dominance, brick by brick, as it paves the way for an industry power move that will set its expansion strategy in concrete.
The deal, originally announced on 22 October 2024, involves a major takeover through a share purchase agreement. Ambuja Cements will acquire 7,76,49,413 equity shares, which make up 37.90 per cent of Orient Cement’s existing share capital. An additional purchase of 1,82,23,750 equity shares (8.90 per cent stake) will further bolster its holdings.
But that’s not all—Ambuja is also rolling out an open offer to acquire up to 5,34,19,567 equity shares, representing 26 per cent of Orient Cement’s expanded share capital. The deal values the open offer at Rs 395.40 per share, putting serious weight behind Ambuja’s aggressive acquisition strategy.
The green light from CCI came on 4 March 2025, with the regulator granting unconditional approval under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002. With no regulatory roadblocks, the cement giant is now positioned to finalise the transaction and accelerate its growth momentum.
Ambuja Cements continues to make bold moves in the infrastructure and building materials sector. By bringing Orient Cement into its fold, Ambuja aims to boost its market presence and production capacity, cementing (pun intended) its leadership in India’s competitive cement industry.
This strategic acquisition reinforces Ambuja’s commitment to expansion and efficiency. With regulatory hurdles cleared, the focus now shifts to execution—expect Ambuja to lay a stronger foundation for growth in the coming months.
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Google completes $32 billion Wiz deal to boost AI and cloud security
Wiz joins Google Cloud but keeps multi-cloud support across rival platforms
NEW YORK: Google has completed its $32 billion acquisition of cloud security company Wiz, marking the biggest deal in the tech giant’s history and signalling a major push to strengthen security in the era of artificial intelligence and multi-cloud computing.
The New York-headquartered cybersecurity firm will join Google Cloud while continuing to operate under the Wiz brand. Crucially, the company will maintain support for multiple cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud, reflecting the reality that most large organisations run their systems across several cloud providers.
Google said the acquisition is designed to help organisations build and scale applications more securely as businesses and governments increasingly move critical systems and data to the cloud. At the same time, the rapid adoption of generative AI has introduced new cybersecurity risks, with attackers also using AI to launch faster and more sophisticated attacks.
Wiz has built a reputation for simplifying cloud security. Its platform maps entire cloud environments, identifying vulnerabilities, potential attack paths and misconfigurations before they can be exploited. By connecting insights from code, cloud infrastructure and runtime environments, it allows security and engineering teams to detect and fix risks early in the development cycle.
Bringing Wiz into Google Cloud will create what the company describes as a unified security platform capable of detecting, preventing and responding to threats across cloud and AI environments. The combined offering will also integrate Google’s own security capabilities, including threat intelligence tools, security operations platforms and the cybersecurity expertise of Mandiant.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the move reflects the growing importance of security as more organisations rely on AI and cloud technologies. “Keeping people safe online has always been part of Google’s mission,” he said, adding that the partnership will help organisations innovate with greater confidence.
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, said the goal is to make security an enabler rather than a roadblock for businesses building modern applications. He noted that the combined technologies will simplify the complex task of protecting hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
For Wiz, the acquisition opens the door to global scale while keeping its core philosophy intact. Co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport said the company remains committed to an open, multi-cloud approach and will continue supporting customers regardless of where their workloads run.
Over the past year, Wiz has expanded its platform to address emerging risks tied to AI applications, including tools that help organisations monitor AI usage, detect AI-specific vulnerabilities and secure AI workloads during runtime.
With Google’s infrastructure, artificial intelligence capabilities and security ecosystem now behind it, Wiz plans to accelerate development of its platform while continuing to serve enterprises, governments and start-ups operating across different cloud environments.
For Google Cloud, the acquisition adds a powerful piece to its security puzzle as competition intensifies among global cloud providers. For customers, it promises a future where building fast in the cloud does not have to come at the expense of staying secure.
