Displaying items by tag: Merger
Suez Cement to merge with Helwan Cement
15 November 2017Egypt: The board of directors of Suez Cement has agreed to merge with Helwan Cement. It also agreed to sell a 5% stake in Tura Cement. Both Suez Cement and Helwan Cement are owned by HeidelbergCement. Suez Cement operates two plants at Suez and Kattameya. Helwan Cement runs a single plant at Helwan.
South Korea: The South Korean Fair Trade Commission has approved the pending merger of China National Building Material (CNBM) and China National Materials (Sinoma). CNBM and Sinoma formerly entered into a merger agreement in September 2017.
South Africa: The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has been steadily increasing its shareholding in cement producer PPC. It now owns a 25.1% stake. In March 2017, the PIC increased its shareholding in PPC to 15.1% and subsequently increased it further to 21.2% in October 2017.
RHI Magnesita starts trading on London Stock Exchange
31 October 2017UK: RHI Magnesita has started trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). It has been admitted to trading in the premium segment of the main market on the LSE. The start of trading on the exchange marks the completion of the merger process between RHI and Magnesita.
“After the successful combination, RHI Magnesita is now fully dedicated to the strategic repositioning as the global leader in the refractory industry. With our 14,000 employees, we can drive positive change in our industry and aim to offer our customers an even greater value proposition in the future,” said Herbert Cordt, chairman of the board of directors of RHI Magnesita,
Following the merger the new company leads the refractory industry. It holds 35 raw material and production plants and more than 70 sales offices around the world and its product portfolio comprises more than 120,000 individual refractory products. It also operates two main research and development centres in Leoben, Austria and Contagem, Brazil.
As part of the merger process the company has also unveiled a new brand and logo to represent its global presence, its innovation and its company mind-set. The new logo and the visual system based on it consist of a horizontal eight, the symbol of infinity, and the shapes of refractory bricks.
Europe: The closing date of the merger between refractory manufacturers RHI and Magnesita is expected to be 26 October 2017. This follows approval by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) for the prospectus for admission to listing of RHI Magnesita shares on the Premium Listing segment of the Official List of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) Main Market for listed securities. The new company, RHI Magnesita, will start trading on the LSE on 27 October 2017.
National Committee for Cement Companies says Saudi Arabian market only needs four producers
10 October 2017Saudi Arabia: Jihad Al Rashid, the head of the Saudi National Committee for Cement Companies, has said that the local market only needs four large cement producers. He added that the industry does not need the 17 cement companies it has at present, according to the Al Eqtisadiah newspaper. The owners and shareholders of these companies are ‘seriously’ considering merger options. Al Rashid also said that the government and consumers would benefit from a consolidated industry.
Leading PPC shareholder warns against merger with AfriSam
03 October 2017South Africa: Prudential Investment Managers, one of the main shareholders of PPC, says it opposes a proposed merger between the cement producer and AfriSam. It said that the deal undervalues the group, according to the Business Daily newspaper. It added that it expects PPC’s share price to double in the next three to four years as production capacity in sub-Saharan African comes on line. Prudential owns a 14% share in PPC. Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings has made an offer of US$154m to buy a stake in PPC on condition that the cement producer agrees to a merger with AfriSam.
CNBM and Sinoma enter into merger agreement
11 September 2017China: China National Building Material (CNBM) and China National Materials Company (Sinoma) have entered into a merger agreement. The exchange ratio has been set at 1 Sinoma share to exchange for 0.85 CNBM share. After the merger is completed Sinoma will be absorbed into CNBM. Merger preparations for the two state-owned companies have been on going since mid-2016 when the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission announced the move.
CNBM is the largest cement company in the country with a reported total production capacity of around 409Mt/yr. Sinoma is a cement engineering company and the fourth largest cement producer in China with a total production capacity of approximately 112Mt/yr. The merger is part of the government’s plans to consolidate production domestically and refocus its industries internationally as part of the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative.
RHI and Magnesita make sales ahead of merger
11 September 2017Europe: RHI and Magnesita have announced divestment agreements ahead of their proposed merger. RHI has signed a contract with a European refractories supplier for an undisclosed sum regarding the sale of its dolomite business in the European Economic Area. The sale consists of the production sites at Marone in Italy and Lugones in Spain. Magnesita has entered into a definitive agreement with Intocast to divest its business related to the production and supply of magnesia carbon bricks produced at the company's Oberhausen plant in Germany for Euro20.3m. Both sales were required by the European Commission as part of the merger process.
“With the sale of the two sites, the combination of RHI with Magnesita is also still right on schedule,” said RHI’s chief executive officer Stefan Borgas with regards to his company’s divestments “We expect the confirmation by the European Commission in the near future.”
RHI signed a contract in August 2017 to sell its production sites at San Vito in Italy and Sherbinska in Russia that produce fused cast refractories for the glass industry. Production at the company’s plant at Aken in Germany was stopped in the first half of 2017 for an indefinite period. RHI plans to sell or close the plant to maintain its production utilisation rate across the business.
South Africa: Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings has made an offer of US$154m to buy a stake in PPC on condition that the cement producer agrees to a merger with AfriSam. Fairfax will also invest a further US$309m to pay off AfriSam debts to aid the deal, according to the Cape Times newspaper. The proposed merger ratio is based on 58% PPC and 42% AfriSam.
PPC said to its shareholders that it had received two other offers from trade buyers about a ‘pan-African combination’ with PPC. It added that although it had yet to ‘fully consider’ the Fairfax proposal, the offer was ‘fundamentally’ undervalued.