17 August 2018
Scramble for LafargeHolcim’s Indonesian unit 17 August 2018
Indonesia: The sale of LafargeHolcim's Indonesian unit has sparked the interest of several potential buyers in the region. Names in the ring include Japan's Taiheiyo Cement, Malaysia’s YTL Corp and Indonesia’s PT Semen Indonesia, according to Bloomberg reports that cite unnamed sources. PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa is also reported to be interested. Bloomberg reports that LafargeHolcim could seek as much as US$2bn for the unit, which has 15.5Mt/yr of capacity across seven plants.
Sungshin Cement to buy controlling stake in Halla Encom 17 August 2018
South Korea: Sungshin Cement will become the new owner of bigger rival Halla Encom Corporation, a ready-mixed concrete (RMC) manufacturer from Halla Corporation, by purchasing an 85% stake in it for US$49.3m.
Sungshin said that it had signed a share purchase agreement by forming a consortium with BCH Peregrine Investment, a private equity fund, to take over Halla Encom. It said that that the purpose of the sale was to improve its financial soundness and raise funds for new businesses.
Halla Encom ranked seventh among South Korea’s eight RMC producers in 2017, producing 3.44Mm3 of concrete. Sungshin Cement was eigth, with shipments of 1.91Mm3. The combined entity is expected to become the third largest producer of RMC in South Korea, larger than Ssangyong Remicon (5.34Mm3) Sampyo Industry (7.59Mm3) and Eugene Corporation (7.5Mm3).
EAPCC sites to be auctioned to pay for staff claims 17 August 2018
Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) properties are set to be auctioned to recover US$13.9m owed to workers following the firm’s failure to fully implement a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
The Kenya Chemical and Allied Workers Union (KCAWU) has already obtained the services of an auctioneer, who will start auctioning EAPCC property upon expiry of the notice. The auctioneer will be seeking to recover the money for more than 400 workers covered in the 2013–2015 CBA.
The said CBA was the subject of a dispute before the Labour Court and the Court of Appeal. EAPCC was aggrieved that the court had directed it to increase wages for contract employees.
Court of Appeal judges GBM Kariuki, Fatuma Sichale and Sankale ole Kantai, held that upon the contract staff who were not part of management becoming members of KCAWU on payment of union dues, they were entitled to benefit from the negotiated CBA.