Displaying items by tag: Stake

Switzerland: Thomas Schmidheiny says he has reduced his share in LafargeHolcim to 7.2% from 10.9% to diversify his investment portfolio. He said that the decision was part of his ‘retirement and heritage’ planning, according to Reuters. He has no plans to minimise his stake any further.

Schmidheiny was made honorary chairman of LafargeHolcim in 2018 when he stepped down from the board. He began his career at Holcim in 1970. He became a member of the executive committee six years later and served as chief executive officer (CEO) between 1978 and 2001. After joining the board of directors in 1978 he was chairman of the board of directors from 1984 until 2003. Later, he was a key part of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge that completed in 2015.

Colombia: Cementos Argos plans to sell its stake in Omya Andina for US$18.6m. It said it was focusing on the cement, concrete and aggregates business, according to the La República newspaper. Omya Andina is a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Omya that operates in Colombia. It produces calcium carbonate and speciality chemicals for a range of industries including construction and agriculture.

Belarus: The government has issued a directive ordering an increase in its stake in 12 large companies including Belarusian Cement. The government’s stake will be increased by amounts equal to the financial support the companies have been given, according to the Belapan news agency. The government reportedly invested around Euro70m into the companies.

India: Private equity company True North has purchased a 54% stake in Shree Digvijay for a reported US$17m from Brazil’s Votorantim Cementos. Other companies bought the rest of Votorantim’s 75% share in the business, according to Bloomberg. True North signed a deal to buy the cement producer in late 2018. Shree Digvijay operates an integrated cement plant at Jamnagr in Gujarat.

China: BBMG has agreed to sell its stake in seven cement companies to Jidong Cement for US$227m. It has also arranged with Jidong Cement to contribute nearly US$150m into BBMG Jidong Cement (Tangshan), a joint venture owned by the two companies. Both companies will also inject capital into each other’s subsidiaries. BBMG owns a 7% stake in Jidong Cement. Both agreements have been set up to resolve the issues of competing business between BBMG and Jidong Cement.

The seven companies that BBMG is selling to Jidong Cement are Zhuoquan BBMG Cement, Lingchuan BBMG Cement, Baoding Taihang Heyi Cement, Handan Shexian BBMG Cement, Qinyang BBMG Cement, Lanxian BBMG Cement and Xuanhua BBMG Cement. BBMG owns a 100% or majority stake in each of these companies.

Russia: South Ural Mining and Processing Company has purchased a 77% stake in Gornozavodsktsement in Perm region. It intends to buy the rest of the company at a later date, according to the Kommersant newspaper. The acquisition was supported by Gazprombank.

India: Private equity companies Blackstone Group and Temasek Holdings are holding separate negotiations to buy up to a 20% stake in Wonder Cement for around US$136m. The investment is expected to allow the cement producer to expand its production capacity to 11Mt/yr from 6.75Mt/yr at present, according to the Economic Times newspaper. Wonder Cement, part of the Rajasthan-headquartered RK Group, announced in August 2018 that it was preparing to set up a 2Mt/yr clinker grinding unit in Dhule, Maharashtra.

Turkey: Greece’s Titan Group has reached an agreement to increase its share in its joint venture, Adocim Çimento Beton Sanayi ve Ticaret. At present the cement producer is a 50-50 joint-venture operated with Cem Sak Group since 2008. The arrangement will see it buy an additional 25% share in Adocim and dispose of its 50% share of a grinding plant. The transaction is conditional upon approvals by regulatory authorities and is expected to be concluded by the end of November 2018.

Adocim owns an integrated cement plant with a production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr, a grinding unit with a production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr and three ready-mix concrete units.

Canada/France: Canadian pension companies La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) completed their acquisition of a minority stake of France’s Fives in late May 2018. The equipment manufacturer will remain controlled by its management, with Ardian as another minority shareholder. The group said that the new investment would enable it to expand and to explore research and development programs that aim to improve energy efficiency and a lower environmental footprint.

France: ArcelorMittal plans to increase its stake in Ecocem France to 49% from 30% by the end of May 2018. The transaction is subject to the approval of the Irish Competition Authority. The French subsidiary of Ireland’s Ecocem was set up in 2007 by ArcelorMittal and Ecocem Materials.

Ecocem produces slag cement from ground granulated blast furnace slag. Ecocem France operates a 0.7Mt/yr grinding plant at Fos-sur-Mer near to an ArcelorMittal plant. It plans to open a second 0.7Mt/yr grinding plant at Dunkirk in May 2018. The new plant is intended to target western and northern France as well as export markets in the UK and Belgium.