Meet Karan Adani, eldest son of Gautam Adani set takeover as chair of ACC

Karan Adani, the elder son of billionaire Gautam Adani, is taking over as the Chair of ACC — the cement major with Rs 16,151-crore revenue.

This comes at a time when the industry is expected to witness intense competition and smaller as well as weaker players are being acquired by the stronger ones.

Karan, 35, is known for his hands-on approach and execution skills and played an important role in the acquisition of Ambuja Cements and ACC by the Adani family for a $6.4-billion all-cash deal.

Currently, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Adani Ports, Karan takes over the 86-year-old company and succeeds doyens of Corporate India, including late Nani Palkhivala and late Pallonji Mistry.

ACC, once partly-owned by the Tata group, was formed in 1936 when 10 cement companies came together. The Tatas exited the company in 1999 by selling their stake to Ambuja Cements.

Gautam Adani, patriarch of the Adani group, has just taken over as the Chair of Ambuja Cements, which owns 54.5 per cent stake in ACC.

The family has proposed to invest an additional Rs 20,000 crore in Ambuja Cements by way of convertible warrants to increase stake from the current 63.11 per cent.

Karan, who holds a degree in economics from Purdue University, started his corporate career at Mundra port — the first mega project undertaken by the Adani group. He was mentored by Adani senior and family confidant Malay Mahadevia.

After getting hands-on experience through all levels of the group’s operations since 2009, Karan is now responsible for strategic development of the group. He oversees day-to-day operations across several businesses.

Karan is tasked to build the Adani group’s identity around an integrated business model, backed by new processes, and higher corporate governance practices.

“The group is aiming to become a global leader in the infrastructure sector, including in ports, airports and renewable energy, with billions of dollars of investment in the pipeline. The group’s next generation is tech savvy and understands the market both in India and overseas.

There will be a lot of focus on ESG (environment, sustainability and governance) from the next generation,” said a Mumbai-based analyst.

Karan is married to Paridhi, a partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangalas and daughter of Cyril Shroff — one of India’s top corporate legal minds.