Displaying items by tag: Eurocement
Switzerland: Holcim's chairman Wolfgang Reitzle has said that Holcim is open to giving Russia's Eurocement a seat on the board after its merger with French peer Lafarge goes through, chairman Wolfgang Reitzle said yesterday.
On 29 March 2015 Russian businessman Filaret Galchev, who owns a 10.8% stake in Holcim via Eurocement Holding, rejected the renegotiated merger terms that Holcim had reached with Lafarge in mid-March.
"It would be beneficial to have him in the board as he would bring in lots of expertise from the cement sector," said Reitzle of Galchev. He added that the future chief executive of the combined company would be named within the next two weeks.
Reitzle excluded re-opening the negotiations with Lafarge on the share-exchange ratio or paying a special dividend to Holcim shareholders to win them over to the deal.
Holcim shareholders, some of whom remain sceptical of the cement industry mega-merger, vote on whether or not to ratify the deal at a shareholder meeting on Friday 8 May 2015.
Europe: Two major Holcim shareholders remain displeased with the revised deal terms that were designed to placate them, according to Reuters.
Russian businessman Filaret Galchev, who owns a 10.8% in Holcim via Eurocement Holding AG, has rejected the new terms and is seeking further improvement to the exchange ratio, according to a Eurocement source. Additionally, Harris Associates, which owns 3.19% of Holcim, has said that it will not back the LafargeHolcim merger until it knows who will replace Lafont as head of the new company.
"Before we decide on the transaction, we first want to know who will be put forward for this post," said David Herro, chief investment officer for international equities at Harris, in an interview with Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft.
Europe: Eurocement Holding AG, the second-largest shareholder in Holcim with a 10.82% stake, plans to vote against the LafargeHolcim meger unless the financial terms of the deal are altered, according to local media.
Eurocement, which is owned by financier Filaret Galchev, believes that the terms of the deal continue to undervalue Holcim despite a revision of the agreement. The deal, which was originally structured as a one-for-one share swap, now offers nine Holcim shares for 10 Lafarge shares. According to local media, Eurocement's complaint is solely with the exchange ratio and it has notified Holcim and Lafarge of its concerns.
Eurocement alone can't derail the deal, which requires the approval of two thirds of Holcim's shareholders at an extraordinary shareholders meeting, scheduled for 8 May 2015.
Russia: Eurocement's new plant in Sengileevskaya is scheduled to begin production at the end of May 2015, bringing the total production capacity of the Ulyanovsk region close to 4Mt/yr. Eurocement Group president Mikhail Skorokhod said that the plant will meet the highest standards in terms of equipment quality and performance. Governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Sergey Morozov, said that the arrival of Eurocement will improve the quality of life for people in the region. On completion, the plant will provide 320 jobs.
Eurocement-Ukraine reports Euro10m loss in 2014
23 March 2015Ukraine: Balakleya-based Eurocement-Ukraine has reported a loss of Euro10.4m for 2014, following a Euro848,334 loss in 2013.
Lafarge and Holcim in talks to renegotiate merger
12 March 2015Europe: Holcim and Lafarge are in talks to renegotiate the terms of their Euro41bn merger after a divergence in the value of the two companies over the past year. The two sides are holding discussions that might result in changes to the terms of the one-for-one share deal announced last April 2015, according to The Financial Times.
It in unclear how the renegotiation might affect CRH, which agreed in February 2015 to pay Euro6.5bn for assets being sold by the two companies as they sought to address potential competition concerns over the deal.
In recent weeks Holcim shareholders have raised concerns over the terms of the deal, most vocally a representative for the Schmidheiny family, which is Holcim's largest investor. Thomas Schmidheiny, head of the family and a former Holcim chairman, wanted the terms of the deal renegotiated. Holcim's second largest shareholder, Eurocement, which is owned by Russian Filaret Galchev and holds 10% of the shares, has not publicly supported the deal.
Belarus: Belarusian manufacturers are expected to export 1.8Mt of cement in 2015, including 1.3Mt to be supplied to Russia's Eurocement, according to Construction minister Anatol Chorny. Belarus sold 980,000t of cement to Eurocement in 2014. Belarus' cement output is expected to total 6.1Mt in 2015, up from 5.8Mt in 2014.
"This year we have signed an exclusive contract for the supply of 1.3Mt," said Chorny. "The contract is advantageous to Belarus because 50% of the total amount shall be paid in advance and the rest shall be paid within 10 days of the delivery date. If the price of cement in the Russian market is lower than in Belarus, the Russian company will cover the losses. If the price will be higher, the difference will be equally divided." Belarus will also export cement to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, Poland and Lithuania in 2015.
Belarus' AAT Krychawtsementnashyfer in Krychaw, Mahilyow, operated at a loss in 2013. This was caused by its old production plant, which still uses natural gas to manufacture cement. In contrast, the company's new production facility generated a profit of about Euro676,000 in 2014. To reduce the cost of cement production, Krychawtsementnashyfer installed a cement kiln fuelled by waste tyres in 2014 and plans to start using coal dust as a fuel in 2015, according to Chorny.
LSR completes cement plant divestment to Eurocement
26 January 2015Russia: LSR Group has completed the sale of its cement plant in Slantsy, Leningrad to Eurocement. Following the closure of the deal, Eurocement has acquired full operating control over the facility. The plant, which began operations in September 2010, operates a 5000t/day clinker line and a 1.86Mt/yr cement line.
LSR reiterated that the divestment is part of its strategy of focusing on projects 'with the highest returns on invested capital and the fast-growing real estate development business.' As a result, LSR has significantly reduced its debt and made it 100% Ruble-based.
Wärtsilä supplies 11 power plants to Eurocement
22 December 2014Russia: Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply power plants for 11 Eurocement cement plants. The project is part of a modernisation program focusing on energy-efficiency and environmental upgrades. The contract was signed in November 2014.
"Wärtsilä's solutions will allow us to create a high technology cement industry in Russia and provide national infrastructure and housing projects with high quality cement," said Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod.
The full equipment delivery order consists of 36 natural gas-fired Wärtsilä 34SG engines. The size of the industrial power plants varies from two to five engines, or from 19MW to 48MW. The combined capacity of the power plants will be 314MW. The plants will produce electricity for each cement plant and work in parallel with the electricity grid. All projects are scheduled to be fast-track-delivered during 2015.
"This multi-plant project is nicely in line with our strategy to grow in the industrial sector. Cement manufacturers and other industrial customers recognise the value of reliability of our solutions," said Regional Director Alf Doktar, Wärtsilä Power Plants. Wärtsilä's total installed power generation capacity in Russia is approximately 1000MW.
LSR to sell Slantsy cement plant to Eurocement
16 December 2014Russia: LSR Group is selling its Slantsy plant in the Leningrad region of Russia to Eurocement Group. The parties have signed a preliminary sales agreement, with Eurocement having obtained approval from Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS).
Control of plant operations is expected to be transferred later in December 2014. LSR said that the deal is part of its strategy to 'focus on projects with the highest returns on invested capital and fast growing real estate development business, thus maximising value for shareholders.' LSR will use most of the proceeds to reduce its debt and make it 100% Ruble-based by the end of 2014.