Ethiopia: South African cement producer PPC has acquired Industrial Development Corporation's 20% stake in Ethiopian-based Habesha Cement for a purchase consideration of US$13m. PPC's initial 27% stake in Habesha, acquired in July 2012, now rises to 51%, while the balance of the shareholding in Habesha is held by around 16,000 local shareholders.
"We are very excited about our increased investment in Ethiopia; a country with a population of 91 million people that is set to reach 100 million by 2018 and having a growth rate that is expected to remain above 8% in the medium term," said Bheki Sibiya, Executive Chairman of PPC.
Habesha has begun the construction of a 1.4Mt/yr cement plant 35 km north-west of Addis Ababa. The project has cost approximately US$135m and commissioning is planned for 2016. In addition to the Habesha project, PPC has started building projects in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.
Financial closure of this acquisition is expected in December 2014 once all conditions have been satisfied.