Africa: Turkey's Limak Cement is in talks on the acquisition of cement operations in Africa which could be worth up to US$1bn, a senior executive told Reuters, though there was no certainty a deal would be agreed.
Limak, which already has interests in Mozambique and Ivory Coast, has signed a confidentiality agreement regarding the purchase from an international cement company, though the outcome of the talks will not be known for several months. Limak Cement Group General Coordinator Gultekin Aksuyek did not say who it was looking to buy the assets from, but said that it had operations in more than one African country.
"A global cement firm is considering selling its facilities in three African countries. We are seriously interested and have signed a confidentiality agreement," said Aksuyek. "I think we will know in five to six months." He added that Turkish companies had ground to make up in the continent, which has good growth opportunities.
Other overseas expansion plans are also in the works. "We are also studying a possible acquisition in one of the Latin American countries," said Aksuyek. "We may make an acquisition there in the next five years." Limak has 10 cement plants in Turkey and is building cement grinding and packaging facilities in Mozambique and Ivory Coast, which are expected to come online in 2016 and 2017.
Aksuyek expects Limak Cement's sales volume to grow by around 4% in 2016 to 8.8Mt.