Global Cement News
Search Cement News
France: Italcementi has set the final price for the buyout offer targeting the minority holdings in its French arm Ciments Français SA at Euro79.50/share, excluding dividend.
Italcementi, which currently owns 83.83% of the share capital and 91.03% of the voting rights of Ciments Français, has increased the bid by Euro3.00/share from the Euro78.00/share announced on 6 March 2014, which included a dividend of Euro1.50/share.
The price was boosted after taking into consideration the assessment by Ciments Français and its advisor, FINEXSI, the revised growth projections of the group and recent industry developments. The bid, which is in line with a drive to increase Italcementi's capital and streamline the group's structure, is to be launched in June 2014 and has a maximum total counter-value of some Euro463.5m. Italcementi will use proceeds from a capital hike of up to Euro500m to bankroll the offer.
Ciments Français' board noted that the price is deemed fair by the advisor and is in the high-end of the established valuation range. Moreover, the move is seen to allow Ciments Français to conduct its operations more efficiently, the board added. In the event that Italcementi builds a stake of at least 95% through the tender offer, it would initiate, within three months from the completion of the bid, a squeeze-out procedure for the rest of the shares at the offer price.
Russia: Eurocement Group has signed contracts with Chinese companies for equipment supplies, engineering, installation supervision and employee training totalling Euro387m.
"The contracts, which were signed on 20 May 2014, include the delivery of a complete set of equipment necessary for the construction of new cement dry-production lines," said Eurocement. The contracted supplies include mechanical equipment, furnaces, cyclone heat exchangers, crushers, and mills.
The equipment will be used for the construction of new cement plants with a total cement production capacity of 17Mt/yr in six regions of Russia: Leningrad, Ryazan, Bryansk, Arkhangelsk, Ulyanovsk and Samara regions. Eurocement currently operates 16 cement plants with 40Mt/yr of production capacity.
Cemento Polpaico seeks to build 20MW solar plant 21 May 2014
Chile: On 20 May 2014 the environmental committee of Chile's Santiago Metropolitan region admitted for evaluation a 20MW solar power project from Chilean cement producer Cemento Polpaico.
Cemento Polpaico plans to invest US$42m in the Cerro Blanco photovoltaic park, which will be installed next to its cement plant in the Tiltil Municipality. The park will help to diversify Chile's energy mix and will supply renewable energy to the central power network (SIC), through the Punta Peuco substation, according to the environmental impact declaration. Construction is projected to commence in 2014.
Lafarge opens a Euro500m cement plant in Kaluga 20 May 2014
Russia: Lafarge opened a Euro500m cement plant in Kaluga on 19 May 2014. The plant is the group's biggest project in Russia so far, according to Andre Martin, Lafarge's president in Russia.
The plant has a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr. Raw material will be sourced from the adjacent Borschovskoye field, which Lafarge calculates has enough reserves to last 50 years. All of the cement will be supplied to the domestic market.
"This is a very modern enterprise. Russia produces a lot of cement and it needs more and more of it to modernise old enterprises," said first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov.
Lafarge is not planning to adjust its plans to develop business in Russia due to the Ukraine crisis, according to Martin. He said that Lafarge, which has been doing business in Russia since 1996, had long-term development plans for the Kaluga region.
Bulgaria: Bulgarian cement producer Devnya Cement plans to launch a new Euro160m production line with a cement production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr in September 2014. The plant, which is near the Black Sea port city of Varna, currently has a cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr. Devnya Cement was acquired by Italcementi in 1998.