Solar Industries to acquire South Africa’s Omnia for ₹12,951 crore
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Solar Industries India on Monday said its wholly owned step-down subsidiary Solar SA Investments Proprietary Limited has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the issued shares of South Africa-based Omnia Holdings Limited, excluding treasury shares, in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.355 billion (₹12,951 crore).
Under the agreement, Solar SA will acquire Omnia shares at ZAR 134.5 per share. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory, statutory and competition approvals, as well as approval from Omnia shareholders. Completion is expected in early to mid-2027. Following the completion, Omnia will be delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and A2X Markets.
Omnia is a diversified chemicals company headquartered in Johannesburg and has a presence in 23 countries, serving customers in more than 40 countries through over 70 distribution centres. For the financial year ended March 31, 2026, the company reported revenue of approximately $1.41 billion (₹13,307 crore) and remained net cash positive.
Mining business strengthens Solar’s Africa push
The acquisition will substatially expand Solar’s capabilities in commercial explosives, blasting and mining solutions. Omnia’s mining business, which operates under the BME brand, has expertise in open-cast mining, bulk explosives, electronic detonation systems, digital blasting solutions and mining chemicals.
Solar said the transaction is aimed at creating a global platform for commercial explosives and blasting solutions while expanding its geographical footprint, technological capabilities and business diversification.
Solar has been expanding its presence in southern Africa for more than a decade. It entered the Southern African Development Community region in 2010 with a manufacturing facility in Zambia, began South African operations in 2015 and commissioned a manufacturing facility in Middelburg in 2017. In 2024, it also acquired South African mining and explosives services company ProBlast.
Vertical integration and agriculture play
A key attraction of Omnia is its integrated manufacturing infrastructure. Its agriculture business operates nitric acid and ammonium nitrate production facilities, while it recently added a 5,000-tonne ammonium nitrate storage tank, doubling storage capacity. Solar said these assets could strengthen supply security, raw-material availability, operational flexibility and cost competitiveness across its explosives value chain.
Omnia’s agriculture business also provides Solar with a presence in crop nutrition and biological solutions through its Nutriology and Agribio platforms.
“The proposed transaction marks an important milestone in our ambition to become a global leader in explosives and blasting solutions,” Solar Group managing director and CEO Manish Nuwal said. He added that Omnia’s BME business brings an international mining platform, manufacturing assets, electronic initiation technology and integrated ammonium nitrate manufacturing capabilities.
Solar said the benefits of the expanded footprint and customer access are expected to become increasingly visible from FY2028, with revenue attributable to Africa’s mining market expected to grow multi-fold.
Shares of Solar Industries India Ltd ended 0.36% higher at ₹22,290 apiece on the NSE on Friday. The stock has gained nearly 55% over the past year, outperforming the Nifty Next 50, which has delivered returns of around 6% during the same period.