
Displaying items by tag: Acquisition
Cementos Argos acquires further US cement assets
23 January 2014US: Colombia's Cementos Argos announced an agreement with US-based Vulcan Materials for the acquisition of cement, concrete, blocks and port assets in Florida, USA worth a total of US$720m. The acquisition will consolidate its participation in the growing market in the south east of the US.
The assets that are part of this transaction increase the Cementos Argos' installed cement capacity by 3.5Mt/yr, thanks to the integrated cement plant Newberry, Florida (1.6Mt/yr) and grinding mills in Tampa and Port Manatee (1.9Mt/yr combined). The deal also features 69 ready mix concrete plants with 372 mixers and an annual production capacity of 3.3 million m3 and 13 concrete block production plants.
"This new transaction fits perfectly with the company's growth strategy, not only for the size and quality of the assets but also because of its privileged location, the growth potential and its complementary operation with our current assets," said Jorge Mario Velasquez, CEO of Cementos Argos. "We are doubling our cement production capacity in the United States, in a market like Florida, where the growth forecast for the coming years is expected to double the already encouraging growth estimates. Florida is one of the fourth largest state economies, with the highest cement consumption and population of the US."
Through this acquisition, Cementos Argos becomes the second-biggest producer of cement in Florida and in the south-east of the US. With this, the company will achieve a total installed capacity, in all of the locations in which it has a presence, of 20Mt/yr.
Sichuan Shuangma Cement to buy 25% of Dujiangyan Lafarge
04 December 2013China: Sichuan Shuangma Cement plans to buy a 25% stake in Lafarge Dujiangyan Cement for US$137m. Shuangma Cement will pay for the acquisition by issuing shares to the company's major shareholder, Lafarge China Overseas Holding.
Qingsong Building Materials acquires cement company in Xinjiang
20 November 2013China: Xinjiang Qingsong Building Materials & Chemicals has acquired a 31.6% stake in Yili Nangang Building Materials for US$27.7m. After the acquisition, Qingsong Building Materials' stake in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous-based company has increased to 51%, further expanding its market share in the region.
China cement news in brief
18 September 2013National: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released a third list of 58 companies, including cement companies, which should cut their excess production capacity by the end of 2013 as a part of the country's economic restructuring drive. The ministry said that local authorities must ensure that overcapacity is eliminated, rather than transferred to other regions.
Regional: South-eastern Fujian province produced 52.1Mt of cement in the first eight months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 13.3%, according to data released by the local statistics bureau. Jiangxi Province produced 54.8Mt of cement in the first eight months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 21.1%.
Central Hubei province saw cement output increase by 8.3% year-on-year to 60.3Mt in the first seven months of 2013.
North-west Shaanxi province saw cement output total 53.9Mt in the first eight months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%.
Southern Hainan province has produced 10.5Mt of cement in the first seven months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 26.3%. South-central Hunan province produced 9.47Mt of cement in August 2013, a year-on-year decrease of 2.8%.
Corporate: Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group plans to spend US$43.4m on acquiring a 100% stake in Longnan Runji Cement to expand into the Gansu province market. Runji Cement currently operates a 2500t/day dry-process cement plant.
Refratechnik Group takes over Burton
17 September 2013Germany: The Refratechnik Group, a manufacturer of ceramic refractory products to the cement and various other industries, has acquired the facilities of Burton GmbH & Co. KG located in Melle, near Osnabrück, Germany. Burton will continue business operations under the name Refratechnik Ceramics GmbH with immediate effect, maintaining the jobs at the Melle site.
As a result of this strategic takeover, Refratechnik Ceramics will become a market leader and global supplier of refractory products for industrial furnaces in the ceramics industry. In this field, the product range covers wall, roof and car systems as well as furniture for tunnel kilns, in which products such as refractory ceramics, roof tiles, sanitary ware and other ceramic products are fired. Burton Kiln Furniture in Hungary, which was also taken over by Refratechnik Ceramics, primarily produce cast refractory materials.
Refratechnik Group says that Burton's industrial customer base and product portfolio is a contribution to Refratechnik's constant expansion of its business operations, in particular in the fields of primary aluminium and waste incineration.
With the acquisition of Burton, the Refratechnik Group now has 18 sites on four continents. Nine of these are state-of-the-art production facilities for burnt, shaped, and unshaped refractory products. Two other sites are in the raw materials business.
Sinoma subsidiary to buy stake in Hazemag
03 September 2013China: A subsidiary of National Materials Group (Sinoma) is buying a 59.1% stake in German mining equipment firm Hazemag & EPR for US$137m. The Chinese state-owned cement equipment manufacturer and cement producer made the announcement in a statement filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
"It will improve the technique, strengthen the management and establish the channels for the purpose of rapid expansion of Sinoma International to the field of mining equipment and generate more return for the group when Hazemag makes more profit in the future," said Sinoma chairman Liu Zhijiang in the statement.
Holcim and Cemex to swap assets in Europe
29 August 2013Europe: Mexican cement producer Cemex and Swiss multinational cement maker Holcim have announced that they have reached an agreement to conduct a series of transactions in Europe. The transactions will are expected to be complete in the final quarter of 2013, subject to regulatory approval.
Cemex will acquire all of Holcim's assets in the Czech Republic, which include a 1.1Mt/yr cement plant, four aggregates quarries and 17 ready-mix plants.
Cemex will sell its assets in the western part of Germany to Holcim, which include one cement plant and two grinding mills that encompass a total capacity of 2.5Mt/yr, one slag granulator, 22 aggregates quarries and 79 ready-mix plants. Cemex will retain its interests in other parts of the country.
In Spain, Cemex and Holcim will combine all their cement, ready-mix and aggregates operations. Cemex will have a 75% controlling interest over the combined operational assets and Holcim will control 25%.
As part of these transactions, Holcim will pay Cemex Euro70m in cash. Additionally, the transactions are expected to generate synergies that will result in a recurring improvement in Cemex's EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of US$20-30m, which will begin to be realised in 2014.
"When finalised, this will be an important strategic step that should allow Cemex to improve its footprint in Europe and it will consolidate our portfolio in the continent," said Lorenzo H Zambrano, Chairman and CEO of Cemex.
"This transaction will significantly strengthen our presence in Germany while at the same time giving us the necessary flexibility in Spain," said Holcim CEO Bernard Fontana. "Overall, our footprint in Europe will be considerably strengthened."
CRH's My Home Industries to buy Sree Jayajothi Cements
12 August 2013India/Ireland: Following earlier speculation, Ireland's Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH) has announced that its 50:50 Joint Venture in India, My Home Industries Ltd has reached an agreement to acquire the shares of Sree Jayajothi Cements, a 3.2Mt/yr cement producer in south India for a value of Euro175m.
Dow Jones reports that the investment will be financed from My Home Industries' existing debt capacity and by equity inputs from the joint shareholders (Euro70m). CRH's equity interest will amount to Euro35m.
PPC to buy Safika Cement for US$35m
07 August 2013South Africa: PPC (formerly Pretoria Portland Cement) has announced details of an agreement to buy a controlling stake in Safika Cement Holdings for US$35.3m, according to a Johannesburg Stock Exchange release.
"We are very excited to be able to add another complimentary business to PPC. This is an important step in our 'Keeping the Home Fires Burning´ strategy. The proposed transaction is subject to approval by the regulatory authorities as well as the conclusion of the due diligence process," said chief executive officer of PPC Ketso Gordhan.
Safika is a blended cement producer that owns five blending plants and one milling operation. It produces blended 32.5N cement under three brands: IDM Best Build, Castle and the Spar Build-It house brand.
Croatia: HeidelbergCement is interested in bidding for the Croatian cement plant Nasicecement, according to HeidelbergCement's regional director Branimir Muidza.
"We are still very interested in the acquisition and we are carefully monitoring the situation of Nasicecement's pre-bankruptcy settlement. If an opportunity arises we are ready to invest," said Muidza to SeeNews. HeidelbergCement has previously held a 8% stake in Nasicecement.
In February 2013 Nexe Grupa, who own Nasicecement, revealed that it had submitted a motion for the opening of a pre-bankruptcy settlement procedure. Its subsidiaries did likewise. Acquiring Nasicecement could compliment HeidelbergCement's strategy in the Balkans as it holds cement plants in Hungary and Bosnia & Herzegovina.