Displaying items by tag: Türkiye
Cement firm sales set to surge 10 - 15%
25 March 2015Turkey: Sabancı Holding expects its cement business sales to rise by 10 – 15% in 2015 and is looking for acquisition opportunities, according to its chief executive Hakan Gurdal. Sabancı's cement group, which consists of Akçansa and Çimsa, posted a 16% increase in sales to US$980m in 2014.
"We are chasing opportunities for growth abroad. The financial structures of Akçansa and Çimsa are getting stronger, creating serious potential. We currently have the ability to borrow up to US$1.5bn to fund an acquisition," said Gurdal.
Sabancı Holding has long been interested in acquisitions, but has not bought any companies. Gurdal explained that this was due to geopolitical risks in the countries bordering Turkey. Gurdal added that the group had an investment target of US$117 – 129m, most of which would be invested in a plant in the Aegean province of Afyon. The plant is expected to start producing in May 2016.
Sançim acquired by Aşkale Çimento
09 January 2015Turkey: Turkish cement company Sançim Cimento has been acquired by Aşkale Çimento. The acquisition follows the recently-aborted acquisition of Sançim by another firm, Çimsa, for Euro185.m. The new owner of Sançim is a joint venture of Sönmez Holding (43%), Aunde Teknik (38%), E.N.A. Tekstil (10%) and Umut Insaat (9%).
Turkey: Turkish cement producer Afyon Çimento has decided to allot Euro133m to reconstruct its cement plant in the western Turkish city of Afyonkarahisar, Afyon Province. The company will relocate the plant from Afyonkarahisar to a site in Halimoru Village in the same district. The plant has a clinker production capacity of 450,000t/yr and cement grinding capacity of 550,000t/yr.
Oyak Group eyes LafargeHolcim assets amid expansion
14 November 2014Turkey: Oyak Group, Turkey's military pension fund, has US$2bn in cash for acquisitions and may spend some of it on assets being divested by Lafarge and Holcim.
Oyak is interested in Holcim and Lafarge businesses in countries including Romania, Serbia and Hungary, according to Celal Caglar, Oyak's head of the cement and automotive unit. Holcim and Lafarge need to sell units to gain regulatory approval for their planned merger to form LafargeHolcim. In Europe, regulators have set a 15 December 2014 deadline to either approve the deal or open a deeper investigation.
"We are interested in bidding as Oyak or together with a European group," said Caglar. Oyak has US$2bn in cash for acquisitions and can leverage it more than five times if needed, he added. "We are closely following the sale process."
On 10 November 2014 Oyak completed the purchase of Turkey's Denizli Çimento from Ireland's CRH and Turkey's Eren Holding AS for between US$400m and US$450m, as part of Oyak's expansion plans. Oyak has a cement production capacity in Turkey of 20.1Mt/yr, or 19% of the country's market share, through its six plants, including Denizli. It has a clinker production capacity of 10.3Mt/yr, or 15% of Turkey's total. Oyak expects Turkey's cement market to grow by 5% in 2015 after an estimated 6% in 2014, helped by projects including highways, a road tunnel under the Bosporus, stadium constructions and new metro lines.
Sabancı plans bid for LafargeHolcim divestments
24 September 2014Turkey: Turkish conglomerate Sabancı Holding plans to bid for some of the assets that cement makers Lafarge and Holcim must sell to steer their mega-merger past competition watchdogs, according to Reuters.
"Sabancı Cement Group is interested in these sales. Preparations are being made to make a bid in December 2014. Before the bid, preliminary information has been obtained on the assets so it can be assessed," said a source quoted by Reuters.
Turkey: Ireland's CRH and its Turkish partner Eren Holding AS have hired JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM) to help sell their cement joint venture in Turkey. CRH and Eren Holding each own a 50% stake.
Companies including Haci Omer Sabançi Holding AS (SAHOL), Limak Holding AS and Oyak Cement Group are interested in the plant. The three potential bidders are among those shortlisted and the sale process for the venture, which is known as Denizli Çimento Sanayii TAS, could be finalised by October 2014.
Denizli produces about 3% of Turkey's and 31% of western Turkey's total clinker output, according to its website. It is aiming to increase its sales to Euro86.8m in 2014 from Euro76.1m 2013.
Turkish and Ivorian firms team up for new grinding plant
06 August 2014Ivory Coast: The Turkish cement firm Limak Çimento, a unit of local conglomerate Limak Holding, has announced that it will team up with Ivory Coast-based company Akfirbat to set up a cement grinding and packaging plant in the Ivory Coast in what will be a US$50m project. The two companies held a signing ceremony in the Turkish capital Ankara for the establishment of a joint venture company named Limak Afrika SA.
The plant, to be built in the Ivorian capital Abidjan, will have the capacity to grind 1.0Mt/yr of cement as well as being equipped to produce 1.0Mm3/yr of concrete. Construction will start later on in 2014 with operations expected to begin in October 2015. It is proposed that the output of the plant will be sold in the Ivory Coast as well as in other African countries.
Turkey: Austria's A TEC Production & Services GmbH has been awarded a contract by Çimentaş Elaziğ for its plant in Elaziğ Province. The contract covers engineering for upgrades and efficiency optimisations of its preheater tower.
The scope of modifications comprises the redesign of all four cyclone stages, riser ducts and related equipment. The project target is to reduce the total preheater pressure drop by 25% and to increase production capacity by at least 8% on a sustainable basis.
The project will be executed in two phases. The first stage modifications were completed in May 2014, the second phase work is due to be completed shortly, while the third and fourth stages are due for completion in 2015. Phase one resulted in a sustainable production increase of 8% and a pressure drop reduction at the fan inlet by about 19%. Based on the phase one results, it is expected that the pressure drop before the fan will be reduced beyond the target figures after completion of phase two, which will allow higher production at less specific power consumption on the fan than initially targeted.
Turkey: Turkish cement producer Çimsa Çimento has agreed to take over Sançim Bilecik Çimento Madencilik Beton for Euro163m. Çimsa will purchase all 87.5 million shares of Sançim Bilecik Çimento from Turkish companies AUNDE Teknik Tekstil, E.N.A. Tekstil and six individual shareholders. Sançim Bilecik Çimento has 1.4Mt/yr of cement production capacity. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Turkey: The Competition Authority of Turkey has launched a probe into six cement companies that operate in the Aegean Region. The authority will investigate AS Çimento, Batiçim Bati Anadolu Çimento, Batisöke Söke Çimento, Çimentas Izmir Çimento, Denizli Çimento and Göltaş Göller Bölgesi Çimento to see if the companies have engaged in activities that breach competition law.