Displaying items by tag: Acquisition

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia plans to buy Holcim Malaysia, for US$77.3m according to a regulatory filing. The acquisition of the subsidiary of Holcim Indonesia, is expected to be completed the fourth quarter of 2015. It will be paid for using internal funds and borrowing. Holcim Indonesia originally bought the unit for US$37m in 2009.

"The acquisition is also expected to deliver synergies through operational efficiencies, including the increase in economies of scale and bargaining power and reduction or elimination of duplicative functions," said a Lafarge Malaysia spokesperson. The acquisition of Holcim Malaysia will increase the cement production capacity of Lafarge Malaysia from 12.95Mt/yr to 14.14Mt/yr.

India/Denmark: Specialty cable manufacturer CMI Ltd has acquired one of Denmark-based FLSmidth's manufacturing plants in Bawal, Haryana to cater to the growing demand of its products.

CMI plans to invest US$3.02m on the acquisition, which is expected to significantly augment the company's production capacity. The company intends to start production in the new facility within the current financial year. The facility possesses all the necessary clearances and equipment required for industrial production. CMI's net profit rose by 168% to US$429,133 in the quarter that ended on 30 June 2015 and its revenues were US$20.7m.

CMI, which was formerly known as Choudhari Metal Industries, was incorporated in 1967. The company was initially engaged in copper metal trade and copper melting and rod casting and later diversified to the cables business. It currently makes different types of cables to meet the demand of core infrastructure sectors in India like telecommunication, railways, shipbuilding and petrochemicals.

Ireland/Philippines: CRH has completed the Philippines element of its Euro6.5bn acquisition of certain Lafarge-Holcim assets and as such has now completed the entire deal.

On 2 February 2015, CRH announced that it had reached agreement to acquire certain assets from Lafarge and Holcim for a total enterprise value of Euro6.5bn. On 3 August 2015, CRH confirmed that the majority of the transaction was complete, with the exception of the operations in the Philippines. In a press release issued on 15 September 2015, CRH announced that the Philippines element of the transaction is now complete.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem has presented a binding offer to buy Sacci's cement and ready-mix concrete units as it pushes ahead with plans to play an active role in the consolidation of the construction materials sector in Italy, according to Reuters. In a statement, Buzzi said that it had offered a provisional price of Euro74m to be financed through liquidity on hand and / or existing credit facilities. A further variable outlay is expected on top of the original commitment, which will be worth no less than Euro25m. This variable outlay is connected to certain future events, most importantly the core earnings, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), posted in Italy in the next four years.

China: China Resources Holdings has agreed to pay US$237m for a 40% stake in Yunan Province-based cement producer Yunnan Kunming Iron & Steel Building Materials Group Co in a bid to lift production capacity, according to Dow Jones. Yunnan Kunming Iron & Steel Building Materials Group Co is currently a 100% owned unit of state-owned Kunming Iron & Steel Holding Co Ltd. China Resources plans to fund the investment via internal resources and bank borrowing, it said.

Germany/Italy: Italcementi's CEO Carlo Pesenti said that the acquisition of Italcementi by HeidelbergCement is expected to be completed in the first half of 2016, according to Dow Jones. September 2015 will be dedicated to speaking to European and national regulators to receive approval for the deal. Pesenti said that he will join the supervisory board of HeidelbergCement and plans to keep an active role in the company.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has completed the disposal of its lime business in Germany to the Belgian Lhoist Group. Both companies agreed not to disclose any details about the transaction.

The HeidelbergCement assets comprised two lime plants in Germany, the Walhalla Kalkwerk in Regensburg, Bavaria and Kalkwerk Istein in Istein, Baden-Württemberg. Both lime plants were modernised in recent years with modern kiln technology. They generated a turnover of about Euro45m in 2014 and employed approximately 180 people.

Ireland: CRH CEO Albert Manifold has said that the company will now take a pause from large-scale acquisitions following the completion of its US$7.3bn acquisition of various Lafarge and Holcim assets and its recent US$1.3bn acquisition of glazing products producer C R Laurence. Manifold was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that significant acquisitions going forward are 'unlikely,' and that the company will focus on integrating its two big acquisitions over the next 12 - 18 months.

CRH had previously been linked with two other large-scale cement industry acquisitions. In India, it was in the running to acquire 5Mt/yr of Lafarge assets that have since been sold to Birla Group. Meanwhile, in South Korea CRH had been linked with the wholesale acquisition of Tongyang Cement & Energy. Due to Manifold's announcement, it appears that the South Korean deal is no longer on the table.

Ireland: CRH has reported improved results for the first half of 2015. It reported that sales increased by 13% year-on-year to Euro9.4bn over its global operations. Although sales fell by 1% in Europe, they rose by 32% in the Americas. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from continuing operations were up by 29% globally, by 4% in Europe and by 57% in the Americas. CRH's profit before tax was Euro63m, a 3% improvement on its Euro61m pre-tax profit it made in the first half of 2014.

CRH reported that the acquisition of assets from Lafarge and Holcim were now fully integrated into CRH. It has also announced a further Euro1.15bn acquisition of US-based glass manufacturer C R Lawrence.

"We are on track to deliver another year of growth in 2015," said Albert Manifold, CEO of CRH. "Trading in the Americas has been good and, against a mixed macro-economic backdrop, underlying trading in Europe is broadly in line. We have made good progress towards achieving our goal of restoring margins and returns to peak over the cycle, with further margin improvement in each operating division. We are now applying CRH rigour to (our) new businesses to integrate them efficiently and to drive performance."

Philippines: Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc, a Philippine investment holding company, has signed a US$400m loan to help fund the acquisition of the Philippine assets and business of cement maker Lafarge SA. The loan is being provided by The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.

Aboitiz Equity signed a deal with CRH in May 2015 to allow it to join the Irish building materials company in buying Lafarge's cement plants in the Philippines. CRH earlier agreed to buy the assets as part of Lafarge and Holcim assets that were due to be sold off prior to the formation of LafargeHolcim. Aboitiz Equity had said the investment is part of efforts to expand in infrastructure development.