Nagpur: Solar Industries, a Nagpur-headquartered explosives manufacturer, has signed a definitive agreement to take over South Africa’s Omnia Holdings in a Rs 12,951 crore deal, leading to formation of one of the world’s largest and most integrated blasting solutions platform.Solar would also get access to key international markets, including US, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Indonesia, apart from southern and western Africa through Omnia’s network. The buyout will enable Solar Group to get a foothold in the farm sector too. Omnia is a major manufacturer of ammonium nitrate, which is used in agriculture and explosives sectors.
To get a foothold in farm sector
The buyout is expected to be completed in early-to mid-2027, subject to customary conditions, including competition approvals in relevant jurisdictions. After completion, Omnia will be delisted from Johannesburg Stock Exchange and A2X Markets, the company said in a regulatory filing. The proposed transaction marks a transformational milestone in Solar Group’s strategic ambition to become leading global explosives and mining solutions provider, the company said.Johannesburg-based Omnia operates in 23 countries, while it reaches out to 40 nations through a network of 70 distribution centres, clocking a turnover of $1.4 billion (Rs 13,307 crore) for the fiscal ending March 2026, compared with $1.3 billion in FY25 and $1.2 billion in FY24, and has remained cash positive, stated a Solar Group representative.The buyout will take place through Solar SA Investments Proprietary, a wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Industries. This is the second South African takeover by Solar Group in the recent past. In 2024, it acquired ProBlast, a local South African company specialising in open cast mining, drilling, blasting and explosive services. Omnia’s agriculture segment operates nitric acid and ammonium nitrate production facilities, which are the largest and most reliable in the region, said a note.“Omnia is a business we long admired for the strength of its mining and agriculture businesses’ differentiated technology, brands and deep customer relationships. The proposed transaction marks an important milestone in our ambition to become a global leader in explosives and blasting solutions, while providing us a meaningful entry into the integrated crop nutrition and biological solutions,” said Solar Group’s MD Manish Nuwal.Omnia’s BME brand brings a strong international mining platform, high-quality assets, technological leadership in electronic initiation and integrated ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility, said Nuwal. Solar Group has steadily expanded its footprint across Africa. It first entered the South African Development Community (SDAC) region in 2010 by establishing a manufacturing facility at Zambia in 2010.
