Displaying items by tag: Acquisition
Bestway Cement Limited takes over Lafarge Pakistan
23 April 2015Pakistan: Bestway Cement, a subsidiary of Bestway Group, has announced assumption of management control of Lafarge Pakistan. This follows the company's successful bid for 75.86% of Lafarge Pakistan's shares for US$329m in July 2014. Bestway Cement also acquired another 12.07% shares of the target company through the public offer process taking its shareholding in Lafarge Pakistan to 87.93%.
Acquisition of Lafarge Pakistan's 2.5Mt/yr cement plant located in Chakwal, means that Bestway Cement has now become the largest cement manufacturer in Pakistan with a total capacity of more than 8Mt/yr representing 18% of the entire industry's capacity in the country. Bestway intends to invest nearly US$30m in the acquired company including, among other things, an environmentally friendly waste heat recovery power plant.
Century Textiles to sell cement business to UltraTech
22 April 2015India: Century Textiles & Industries is reportedly planning to sell its cement business and merge it in an all-share deal with India's largest cement maker UltraTech. Both companies are in the final stages of a plan to merge the cement businesses, according to local media.
Once approved by shareholders, the merged entity's cement production capacity would total 87M/yr. This would help UltraTech achieve 100Mt/yr ahead of its target of 2020. UltraTech would gain access to the eastern market while strengthening its presence in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
US: Lafarge and Holcim have announced further details on the package of assets that they propose to divest in the US as part of their planned merger to create LafargeHolcim. The divestments include:
- Lafarge's 1.1Mt/yr Davenport cement plant in Iowa and seven terminals along the Mississippi River. The units will be sold to Summit Materials for US$450m in cash plus Summit's Bettendorf, Iowa cement terminal;
- Holcim terminals in Michigan and Illinois;
- Holcim Skyway 600,000t/yr slag grinding station in Illinois;
- Holcim Camden 700,000t/yr slag grinding station in New Jersey, along with a terminal in Massachusetts.
The proposed divestments have been negotiated with the staff of the Federal Trade Commission and remain subject to review and approval by the commission. The divestments will be completed subject to acceptance by the commission and to the closing of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge.
Semen Indonesia to acquire second Vietnamese cement firm
17 April 2015Vietnam: The Indonesian state-owned cement manufacturer Semen Indonesia plans to acquire a second Vietnamese cement company.
Semen Indonesia's finance director Ahyanizzaman said that the company has allocated a total capital expenditure of US$546 – 857m in 2015 to expand its operations, which includes the acquisition of the Vietnamese company. He said that the company was currently conducting a due diligence audit on the Vietnamese firm and that this was expected to be completed by the end of the first half of 2015. "The Vietnamese company is a private firm, which has a local market share of about 4%," said Ahyanizzaman.
If Semen Indonesia goes ahead with the acquisition, it will be its second subsidiary in Vietnam. Through its Vietnamese subsidiary Thang Long Cement Company, it produces about 2.5Mt/yr a year in the country. Ahyanizzaman said the company would borrow up to US$77.9m to support the expansion plan.
Semen Indonesia president director Suparni said that the acquisition plan was part of the company's strategy to take advantage of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which would be implemented before the end of 2015. "Domestic and regional operations cannot be separated when the AEC is implemented, so we want to synergise our business," said Suparni.
CRH sells 45% stake in Doras for Euro37m
15 April 2015France: CRH has sold its stake in a French joint venture company called Doras to its partner, Samse, for just under Euro37m. Doras operates specialist and general builders merchants and is particularly prominent in the Burgundy and Franche Comté regions in eastern France. CRH has now sold its 45% stake in the company to the Samse Group, which already holds a 55% share in the firm, for Euro36.6m. The move was recently given the green light by the Competition Authority.
Ireland: CRH is paying Euro700m 'over the odds' for a Euro6.5bn acquisition that would make it the world's third-biggest building materials supplier, according to a report from US-based AllianceBernstein (AB), a global asset management company.
CRH has agreed to buy a number of mostly European assets from Lafarge and Holcim for Euro6.5bn so the merging companies can get competition clearance for their plan to create the cement industry's biggest company. However, AB has raised doubts about the value of the deal for CRH. The move was also was overwhelmingly approved by shareholders at a recent extraordinary general meeting.
In a detailed report into the deal, AB said that the move represented "A step in the wrong direction for CRH. The acquisition price of Euro6.5bn is 12% above our Euro5.8bn estimate of the fair value of the assets."
Seruji buys 60% stake in Savannah Cement
31 March 2015Kenya: Mauritian company Seruji has acquired a 60% stake in Athi River-based Savannah Cement following approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CA).
Seruji completed the buyout from China's Wan Ho International, which held 40% and Acme Wanji, which owned 20%. Savannah Heights has retained a minority stake in Savannah Cement. The shareholding shake-up makes Savannah Cement Kenya's first fully-owned cement producer, as both Seruji and Savannah are owned by Savannah Cement founder Benson Ndeta.
The buyout comes ahead of a planned US$250m clinker plant project in Athi River by Savannah Cement, which aims to reduce its operating costs by eliminating clinker imports. Cement demand has risen steeply over the past two years in tandem with a host of several large projects in both the public and private sectors. The US$1.88bn Lamu coal power plant and the US$3.23bn standard gauge railway are among the projects that have increased domestic cement demand.
Domestic cement consumption grew by nearly 20% to hit a record 5Mt in 2014, driven mainly by robust growth in property development. However, Kenya's cement producers have been producing more cement than the market can absorb. In 2014 production hit 5.7Mt, up from 5.05Mt in 2013. The Standard Investment Bank has forecast that production will rise to 6.3Mt in 2015 and 6.7Mt in 2016.
Holcim sells Siam City Cement stake for US$681m
30 March 2015Thailand: Holcim has sold its stake in Siam City Cement (SCC) for US$681m. The sale of its 27.5% stake in the Thai company will result in a pre-tax gain of roughly US$378m. The sum was booked in the first quarter. Jardine Matheson Group, a Hong Kong conglomerate, bought 24.9% of SCC from Holcim, while institutional investors purchased 2.6%. Holcim had held a stake in SCC since 1998 and began selling off its investment in 2012. It said that the sale wasn't related to its pending US$44bn union with Lafarge.
CRH assumes LafargeHolcim merger will proceed
19 March 2015Europe: Ireland's CRH is assuming that the LafargeHolcim merger will still happen, according to CRH chief executive Albert Manifold. "At this moment in time, we're working forward on the basis that the deal will close, the merger will happen," said Manifold. He added that he had spoken to both companies on 19 March 2015.
CRH has agreed to buy a number of mostly European assets from Lafarge and Holcim for Euro6.5bn so that Lafarge and Holcim can get antitrust clearance for their plan to merge. According to Reuters, CRH's shareholders voted to approve the acquisition on 19 March 2015 at its extraordinary general meeting. According to Manifold, the CRH vote was a procedural step that had to be done, regardless of the uncertainty at Lafarge and Holcim, as a failure to approve the asset purchase would have left CRH exposed to a potential Euro158m break-up fee.
Manifold also confirmed that if the merger should fail, the break-up fee would apply in the other direction. "Likewise, if other parties don't conclude this deal for whatever reason, we would then be in receipt of a break fee," said Manifold. "I'm not going to speculate on whether it is or isn't going to happen. There are discussions going on to decide what they want to do over the next couple of days," said Manifold, adding that CRH was interested in buying the assets even if the merger falls through.
According to CRH, the LafargeHolcim assets would transform CRH into the world's third-largest building materials supplier, the biggest in central and eastern Europe, and double its presence in emerging markets. CRH makes about half its sales in the US and wants more exposure to new markets such as the Philippines and parts of Europe it believes are beginning to recover.
Manifold said that CRH also has its eye on other acquisitions, should the purchase of Lafarge and Holcim assets fall through. "This deal is an important part of the strategy of CRH, but it is not the strategy of CRH," said Manifold.
Buzzi presents binding offer to buy SACCI
19 March 2015Italy: Buzzi Unicem has presented a binding offer to buy 99.5% of the Italian cement producer SACCI for Euro120m. The offer would be funded from cash and existing credit lines and would see Buzzi take on SACCI's debt. Buzzi said that it might in future pay an additional sum, depending on events like the achievement of a certain level of sales of the two companies and the possible sale of non-core activities.