Displaying items by tag: Titan Cement

Europe: Titan Cement has invested in AI solutions provider Optimitive, to reinforce the use of AI for the optimisation of its plants. The producer aims to continue to improve its productivity and efficiency through this investment. The investment follows Titan Cement's implementation of Optimitive's Optibat software at its plants in order to improve their operational performance, reduce energy consumption and curb CO₂ emissions.

Fernando de la Prida, CEO of Optimitive, said "For Optimitive, the investment by Titan, one of the main players in the cement market, demonstrates the strength of the company, the cutting-edge technology built inside our product and the high level of satisfaction of our customers."

US: Titan Cement subsidiary Titan America has closed its initial public offering (IPO) of 24 million common shares at US$16 per share. The producer sold 9 million new shares, while Titan Cement sold 15 million existing shares.

Titan America received US$137m in net proceeds, to be used for capital expenditure and investments in technology as well as pursuing acquisitions. Titan Cement received US$228m. Titan Cement retains an 87% stake in Titan America with 160 million shares.

US: Titan Group expects to generate US$365m from the initial public offering (IPO) of its subsidiary Titan America. The latter company has priced its IPO of 24 million common shares at US$16/share. The IPO is expected to close on 10 February 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

Titan America expects to receive net proceeds of approximately US$137m from the IPO. Some of these funds will be used to support investments in technologies, the company’s growth strategy and acquisitions. Parent company Titan Cement International expects to generate US$228m. Following completion, Titan Cement will retain a 87% share of Titan America.

Greece: Titan Cement Group says that it has accelerated its innovation strategy with new investments in cement-aligned start-ups. The producer has invested in AI-based industrial process optimiser developer Optimitive, in concrete design systems developer Concrete.ai, in demolition materials-based concrete developer C2CA Technology and in property technology investor Fifth Wall.

US: Titan Cement has announced that its subsidiary, Titan America, has launched its initial public offering (IPO) of 24 million common shares, comprising 9 million new shares to be issued and 15 million existing shares to be sold. The IPO is expected to price between US$15-18 per share.

Following completion, Titan Cement will retain 160,362,465 shares, representing 87% ownership of Titan America.

Holcim revealed the board members for its proposed North America business this week. Former group CEO Jan Jenisch was confirmed as the designated chair and CEO. He will be joined by nine directors chosen from sectors including construction, manufacturing, industrial operations and financial services. Notably, current Holcim director Jürg Oleas will be joining Jenisch at the new company. He previously worked as the head of GEA Group and had senior stints at ABB and the Alstom Group.

The group’s decision to split its business in North America from that in the rest of the world has been presented as a piece of financial engineering designed to increase earnings, margins and increase the value of the business. Markets in the US and Europe have diverged in recent years, with the former growing and the latter slowing in comparison. Splitting the business should, in theory, allow both companies to grow at their own pace. However, the spin-off company in North America will remain linked to Europe as it will be listed at both the New York Stock Exchange and the SIX Swiss Exchange. The latter is for the benefit of European investors. The separation is expected by the end of the first half 2025, subject to shareholder and customary approvals.

Naturally, other companies are also chasing growth in North America. Titan Cement announced this week that its US-based subsidiary, Titan America, has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a proposed initial public offering (IPO). Yet, the company said that the offering is subject to market conditions. As such it couldn’t say when it might happen, how big it might be or much else. Back in May 2024 the group said it was going to list Titan America in the US to “...facilitate the group’s and Titan America’s future growth and unlock new opportunities.” The IPO was intended to be of a minority stake without creating any large-scale tax issues. At this time the transaction was planned to be completed in early 2025.

Titan’s sales share in North America has remained similar from 2018 to 2023 at around 55%. Holcim’s, by comparison, grew to 39% in 2023 from 22% in 2018. This is due to big acquisitions in the US such as Firestone Building Products in 2021 as it built up its lightweight building materials segment. The size of the two companies’ operations in North America are also different. Holcim reported net sales in the region of over US$11bn in 2023. Titan reported net sales of just under US$1.5bn.

Ireland-based CRH moved its stock market listings to the US earlier than both Holcim and Titan. It completed the transition of its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange in mid-2023, although it too retains a listing in Europe, at the London Stock Exchange in its case. Yet analysts have started to wonder whether the company might spin-off its businesses outside the US. As reported by the Irish Times, Bank of America analysts reckon that the non-US parts of the company now represent only 16% of the US$82bn concern. For sanity’s sake this is still a US$10bn-plus sized company! Although other commentators did wonder why CRH might have bought assets in Australia in 2024 if it was seriously considering making changes on this scale anytime soon.

Despite all this attention on the US and North America by some of the multinational cement producers, it is worth remembering that markets change over time. Europe may not look so hot right now but it is unlikely to stay like this. The head of Heidelberg Materials, for example, said in early 2024 that his company wasn’t planning a split in the US because it was focusing on decarbonisation. This may prove prescient in the longer term if Europe sticks to its sustainability goals. FInally, the US isn’t the only place where cement companies are attempting to build their value in growth markets. It was also reported this week that JSW Cement had obtained approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India to proceed with its IPO.

US: Titan America, the US subsidiary of Titan Cement, has filed a registration statement for its proposed initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company plans to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), including both primary and secondary sales, aiming to raise up to an estimated US$500m, subject to market conditions.

Germany: The European Cement Research Academy (ECRA) has elected Eric Bourdon as the chair of its Technical Advisory Committee. Hendrik Möller, Schwenk Deutschland and Samir Cairae, Titan Cement have also joined the organisation’s board of directors

Bourdon is the Deputy CEO, the Head of Industry and the Chief Climate Officer of Vicat. He joined the group in 2002 after working for thyssenkrupp Polysius. He is a graduate in engineering from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers in Paris.

ECRA was founded in 2003. It supports and shares research by the cement sector in Europe. It is steered by its technical committee. Bourdon will work with ECRA managing director Martin Schneider on strengthening its work in strategic areas, including CO₂ capture and related technologies, as well as grinding and kiln technologies.

North Macedonia: Titan Usje will invest €20m over the next three years to modernise its operations, focusing on digitalisation and new technologies. Since 2019, the company has invested over €6m in digitisation and artificial intelligence solutions. The system is being rolled out across all Titan plants and is designed to maximise production efficiency, reduce energy use by over 10% and improve product quality, while cutting CO₂ emissions.

Greece: Titan Cement has announced its financial results for the first nine months of 2024. The group’s sales increased by 5% year-on-year to €1.99bn. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the period reached €455m, marking a 15% year-on-year increase. Net profit after tax also rose by 20% during the period to €238m.

In terms of regional performance, the US business saw an increase of 4.2% year-on-year to €1.15bn and EBITDA growth of 20%. Greece and Western Europe experienced an 8.4% increase in sales to €324m, though EBITDA declined by 4.5% year-on-year. Southeast Europe saw an increase in sales of 4% to €327m with EBITDA rising by 19% during the period. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, sales improved by 5% to €183m, despite a 21% reduction in EBITDA. Titan Cement said that it maintains a positive outlook for the remainder of 2024, driven by solid pricing and overall healthy volumes.