India: Ambuja Cements and ACC, the Indian arms of Holcim, are likely to see top-level management changes in the coming months. Managing director (MD) of Ambuja Cements, Onne van der Weijde and MD of ACC, Kuldip Kaura, have offered to resign, according to industry sources. Additionally, the sources revealed that Sumit Banerjee, the former MD of ACC who had quit to join Reliance Cement, is likely to re-join ACC as the MD.
The management changes at ACC and Ambuja Cements have resulted from restructuring of the parent company, Holcim, which has been underway since July 2013. Holcim has appointed Bernard Terver as the head of Asia, replacing Paul Hugentobler, who retired in February 2014. Terver, a member of the Holcim Executive Committee, has been appointed to head of a region that encompasses Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.
While van der Weijde is said to be unhappy with these management changes, Kaura is said to have been uncomfortable with the new structure, in which ACC will become a subsidiary of Ambuja Cements. Under the restructuring programme, an India management committee that is headed by van der Weijde, was to oversee the integration between the operations of Ambuja and ACC. The two MDs of Ambuja and ACC had to report to van der Weijde, which did not go down well with Kaura, according to unnamed sources. However, it's unlikely that Holcim will take any decision in haste, especially before the restructuring is approved by the Gujarat High Court, which is expected by April 2014.
Only after the court approval can Holcim receive full approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), as currently it is only a conditional approval that is subject to legal clearances. Any management change at this juncture will lead to a lot of questioning, which will put the spotlight back on the entire process.
