Displaying items by tag: Merger

Philippines: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim Philippines has announced plans to merge with its subsidiaries Bulkcem Philippine Incorporated and MabiniGrinding Mill Corporation. The Philippine Star newspaper has reported that the board has approved the planned merger, and that a special stockholders’ meeting will take place on 15 January 2021 to finalise the transactions.

Bulkcem Philippine Incorporated leases the Iloilo cement terminal in Western Visayas, while MabiniGrinding Mill Corporation leases the Mabini grinding plant in Calabarzon.

The board also approved the dissolution of Holcim’s Business Service Center, HuBB Stores and Services and British Virgin Islands-based WellBorne Group International.

Chile: The board of directors of Grupo Hurtado Vicuña (GHV) subsidiary Cemento Polpaico, which operates the 2.3Mt/yr integrated Cerro Blanco plant in Santiago and two grinding plants, has voted in favour of a merger with fellow GHV subsidiary Cementos Bicentario (BSA), which operates three grinding plants in the country. The Diario Financiario newspaper has reported that GHV first mooted with merger with the affected parties in February 2018.

Japan: Mitsubishi Materials and Ube Industries have signed a letter of intent to start discussing a potential merger of their cement businesses and related concerns. If the discussions and a subsequent study are successful, the companies plan to sign a definitive agreement in late September 2020 ahead of an anticipated integration around April 2022. Any formal decision to merge the companies would be subject to approval from the Japan Fair Trade Commission.

The companies have decided to explore merging their cement operations following slowing demand and increased costs due to higher energy prices. They have worked together since 1998 in a joint venture called Ube-Mitsubishi Cement, which integrated their cement sales and logistics operations.

Bangladesh: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim’s subsidiary LafargeHolcim Bangladesh announced its intended expansion from cement production into building materials solutions provision at an event marking one year since the completion of its merger with Holcim Cement (Bangladesh). LafargeHolcim Bangladesh CEO Rajesh Surana said, “We will build on strengths of these two most premium and globally reputed companies and provide customers with multiple products and solutions under one umbrella rather than being a mere cement producer.” The Financial Express has reported that the company has a total capacity of 4.2Mt/yr of Supercrete and Holcim brand cement.

Spain: The National Association of Mortar Manufacturers (AFAM) and the Association of Mortar Manufacturers and SATE (Anfapa) have announced their unification as a single organisation under the name of Anfapa. Alimarket has reported that the body will serve the interests of over 40 members and associates as ‘the qualified voice of an important subsector of the construction industry, giving it a broader and unanimous front.’

Nigeria: 157 of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN)’s 170 accredited shareholders have voted in favour of the company’s planned merger with Obu Cement. The Nation newspaper has reported that the company will submit the result to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will duly ratify it with the federal High Court, formalising the merger in law.

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) and Dalmia Refractories plan to merge their refractory businesses. The subsidiaries of Dalmia Bharat have approved schemes of arrangement to consolidate under a single company known as Dalmia OCL. Dalmia OCL in turn will be held by a holding company known as Dalmia Bharat Refractories. The intention of the merger process is to create a single refractory company of ‘significant’ size, to simplify the corporate structure and to achieve economies of scale.

Nigeria: Obu Cement and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), both subsidiaries of BUA Group, are set to merge. Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder and executive chairman of BUA Group, said that the merger ‘marks the culmination of the first phase of the BUA mid-term strategic plan,’ which aims at deepening the domestic cement market and enhancing industry growth.

Rabiu stated that the completion of the 3Mt/yr integrated Sokota Kalambaina II cement plant and a 48MW power station, construction of which began in 2018, has been scheduled for the second half of 2020. In addition to its four existing plants, this will bring the group’s total integrated cement production capacity to 11Mt/yr.

India: UltraTech Cement has declared the scheme of arrangement between itself and Century Textiles and Industries as part of its merger process. It will issue one equity share worth US$0.14 each for every eight equity shares of the same value held by the shareholders of Century Textiles and Industries. UltraTech Cement received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the acquisition of the cement business of Century Textiles and Industries in late August 2018 but it faced legal challenges subsequently.

The acquisition further strengthens UltraTech Cement’s lead in the Indian market. It says it is now the only company outside of China to have a production capacity of more than 100Mt/yr in a single country. It also claims that it is the third largest cement company in the world excluding those based in China.

India: UltraTech Cement plans to complete its merger with Century Cement by September 2019. Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said the company has approval from shareholders, the Competition Commission and stock exchanges, according to the Mint newspaper. However, it still needs permission from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The merger, which was first announced in May 2018, is a long running reorganisation of assets belonging to the Birla family. Once complete it is expected to give UltraTech Cement dominance in all regional markets with the addition of 13.4Mt/yr of production capacity in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.