法國拉法基公司是世界上最大的水泥企業之一，拉法基印度高管表示：在未來的3到5年里,其超過8%的印度子公司正計劃增加近一倍的收入。為此拉法基印度有限公司將收購其他公司和建立新工廠， 以滿足目標。
拉法基印度董事總經理兼行政總裁Uday Khanna說：“在印度的增長將是一個新的組合能力和收購，我們將采取多產品戰略 ， 以貼近客戶。”
當拉法基宣布其在印度的擴張計劃的同時，當地的聯合政府也已宣布，將在未來5年累投資約500美元億元，用以建立該國的基礎設施。
把重點放在印度，中國，西亞和地中海地區是拉法基公司的戰略，到2010年公司65%的利潤將來自以上這些新興市場。
截至今年第一季的3月底，拉法基公司的銷售額在西歐下降了26 % ，北美19 ％ ，中歐和東歐的45 ％ ， 拉丁美洲11 ％ ，而西亞的銷售增長58 ％ ，非洲13 ％和亞洲的19 ％ 。
Khanna表示“有機擴張的評審是緩慢的，平均需要18個月內獲得批準，然后我們才能建立一個工廠，有時很難估計獲批的具體時間。”
目前的計劃，Khanna表示，對于拉法基水泥印度公司來說就是要提高能力，至少達到20萬噸。到2012年，拉法基集團通過新的能力和可能的收購，生產能力將從目前的5.5噸提升到12噸。并且與此同時，拉法基印度的市場份額將會達到2.75 ％。
Grasim工業公司和UltraTech水泥有限公司的阿迪亞波拉集團現在占有印度40 ％的水泥市場。拉法基公司自己每年生產的水泥為200噸，這個數字與整個印度水泥工業的年生產量相同。
Khanna說：“我們擁有國際化的團隊一直從事收購?！钡瞧溆盅a充說道，對于收購世界第二大水泥生產商Holcim的有限公司的價錢來說，以可以支付收購控股在Gujarat Ambuja 水泥有限公司或GACL ，印度第三最大的水泥企業。并且賣家都會以這個數字為基準。
總部設在孟買的水泥行業分析師表示，拉法基印度已經沒有別的選擇 ，只能通過收購在提高增長。“并且指出 該公司的新的能力來源只有2012年 ， 因此它必須加速尋找收購的增長速度?！?
事實上，拉法基是通過收購路線進入印度市場的。1998年，塔塔鋼鐵公司收購的1.8噸水泥業務Rs550億盧比，和4年后采取這種行動取得了2.2噸植物雷蒙德有限公司Rs786億盧比。
附英文版
Lafarge SA of France, the world’s largest cement company by volume, is planning to nearly double the revenue contribution of its Indian subsidiary to 8% over the next three-five years, said a senior executive of Lafarge India Ltd. The Indian outfit will acquire other firms and build new plants to meet the target.
“The growth in India will be a combination of fresh capacities and acquisitions, and we will follow a multi-product strategy to get closer to the customer,” said Uday Khanna, managing director and chief executive of Lafarge India.
The firm’s expansion plans come at a time when the Union government has announced it will invest about $500 billion (Rs24.7 trillion) to build the country’s infrastructure over the next five years.
The focus on India, China, West Asia and the Mediterranean region is part of Lafarge SA’s strategy to generate 65% of profits from emerging markets by 2010.
In the first quarter ended March, Lafarge SA’s sales from Western Europe fell 26%, North America 19%, Central and Eastern Europe 45% and Latin America 11%, while West Asia sales grew 58%, Africa 13% and Asia 19%.
“Organic expansion by definition is slow. It takes an average 18 months to get approvals before we can build a plant and sometimes it is difficult to estimate this time,” Khanna said. His acquisition plan for capacity addition also has a rider—“the presence of willing sellers”.
The immediate plan, Khanna said, is for Lafarge India to raise its cement capacity to at least 20 million tonnes (mt). By 2012, Lafarge will have 12 mt capacity, through fresh capacities and possible acquisitions, from the current level of 5.5 mt. At this, Lafarge India’s market share is about 2.75%.
Grasim Industries Ltd and UltraTech Cement Ltd of the Aditya Birla Group now account for 40% of the cement production in the country.
Lafarge SA alone makes 200 mt of cement annually, the same that the entire Indian cement industry produces.
“We have an internal team that is always looking at acquisitions,” said Khanna, but added that the price that Holcim Ltd, the world’s second largest cement producer, paid to acquire a controlling stake in Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd, or GACL, India’s third largest cement firm, has been high and that sellers see this number as a benchmark.
Lafarge India has no other option but to grow through acquisitions, said a cement industry analyst with a domestic brokerage, based in Mumbai. He did not want to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to media. “The company’s fresh capacity will come to stream only by 2012 and so it has to look for acquisitions to grow faster,” he added.
In fact, Lafarge’s entry into the Indian market was through the acquisition route. In 1998, it acquired Tata Steel Ltd’s 1.8 mt cement business for Rs550 crore, and four years later followed this up by acquiring a 2.2 mt plant from Raymond Ltd for Rs786 crore.
