Displaying items by tag: Acquisition

Australia: Cement Australia, a joint venture between Heidelberg Materials Australia and Holcim Australia, will acquire the cementitious division of the Buckeridge Group of Companies (BGC) in Perth for US$800m, according to The Australian. The acquisition includes a cement grinding unit with ‘significant’ capacities, along with operations in cement, concrete, quarry, asphalt, transport and a materials technology centre. Cement Australia reportedly ‘fended off competition’ from Boral, Adbri and Mass Group in the process. BGC has stated that it retains a ‘significant’ business with about 1000 employees across its other sectors. The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approval, but is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

India: Star Cement has said that it plans to expand its capacity by an additional 2Mt/yr through a greenfield project in Silchar at a cost of US$47.2m. The expansion is expected to be completed within the next two years.

This announcement comes after Star Cement dismissed reports suggesting that Adani Group subsidiary Ambuja Cement had entered talks to acquire the company, as part of its strategy to expand its presence in the Northeast. According to the Economic Times, Star Cement labelled the claims as ‘speculative’ and clarified that ‘no such discussions are underway.’

Sanjay Agarwal, joint managing director of Star Cement, said “At a time when the building materials sector is growing, we are not looking to exit this business.”

Star Cement has a total installed production capacity of 7.7Mt/yr. Its operations include a 1.67Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Meghalaya and four grinding units.

Huaxin Cement revealed this week that it is buying Holcim’s majority stake in Lafarge Africa for US$1bn. The moment marks a big step in the China-based cement producer’s international ambitions. It has been linked in the financial media to many divestments around the world in recent years. Yet this appears to be its largest acquisition so far and it adds to what is becoming a serious sized multinational business in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The details of the deal are that Holcim has agreed to sell its 83% share of Lafarge Africa to Huaxin Cement. Lafarge Africa operates four integrated cement plants in Nigeria at Sagamu and Ewekoro in Ogun State, at Mfamosing in Cross River State and the Ashaka Cement plant in Gombe State. It has a combined production capacity of 10.5Mt/yr. The transaction is expected to close in 2025 subject to regulatory approvals.

Holcim holds a relationship with Huaxin Cement that dates back to the late 1990s when it first bought a stake in the company. Following the formation of LafargeHolcim in the mid-2010s, Lafarge’s subsidiary Lafarge China Cement was sold to Huaxin Cement. At the end of 2023 Holcim reported that it owned just under a 42% share in the company. Huaxin Cement has also bought assets from Holcim as the latter company has divested subsidiaries over the last decade. In 2021 it bought Lafarge Zambia and Pan African Cement in Malawi from Holcim. This adds to other acquisitions in the region. In 2020 it purchased African Tanzanian Maweni Limestone from ARM Cement. Later in 2023 it picked up InterCement’s subsidiaries in Mozambique and South Africa. In addition, in October 2024 local media in Zimbabwe reported that the company was planning to build a grinding plant. Now, throw in the plants in Nigeria and Huaxin Cement is the second biggest cement producer in Sub-Saharan Africa after Dangote Cement.

Huaxin Cement said it had an overseas cement grinding capacity of just under 21Mt/yr at the end of 2023. However, this figure included plants in Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Oman, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Data from the Global Cement Directory 2024 suggests that the company now has 10 integrated cement plants in Sub-Saharan Africa with a cement capacity of around 18Mt/yr. It also operates a number of grinding plants in these countries.

The Lafarge Africa deal is significant because a mainland China-based cement producer has finally hit the US$1bn window in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity overseas. Many potential acquisitions in the sector are linked by the press to Chinese companies these days. However, most of the activity to date has been of a plant-by-plant or piecemeal nature. Alternatively, these companies have been building their own plants around the world as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) has spent more buying itself into Türkiye-based OYAK Cement since 2018 but it is headquartered in Taipei.

The question from here is how much further does Huaxin Cement plan to expand both in Africa and beyond? The obvious answer is that it will keep going given the state of the cement sector back home in China, the retreat of the western multinationals and the demographic trends in the region. World population growth is predicted to be fastest in Africa in the coming decades and demand for cement should follow. Outside of Africa, the ‘big’ one recently has been InterCement in Brazil. Unfortunately for Huaxin Cement though, InterCement extended its exclusivity deal with Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) in November 2024. If the Lafarge Africa transaction completes then it will be the biggest deal yet and it will welcome a China-based cement company to the big league of international M&A. It may just be the start.

Philippines: The Consunji Group has appointed Herbert M Consunji as the president and CEO of Cemex Holdings Philippines (CHP). The group completed its acquisitions of CHP from Cemex in early December 2024, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. It plans to change the name of the company to Concreat Holdings Philippines subject to the approval of shareholders at a meeting to be held in February 2025.

Consunji is the Executive Vice President, Chief Finance Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer of DMCI Holdings, part of Consunji Group. He concurrently sits on the board of various DMCI Holdings subsidiary companies. He is a certified public accountant and he graduated from De La Salle University in Manila with a degree in commerce majoring in Accounting.

Chile: The offer made by Peru’s Yura Group to acquire a further 20% of Chile’s Cementos Bío Bío (CBB) – in addition to the 20% it already owns – has been rejected by directors, according to CE Noticias Financieras. This is despite it valuing the company at US$390m, 110% of its current market value. CBB’s board maintained that the price is still insufficient for shareholders who see their investment as being worth more in the longer term.

"It is a low value considering operations of similar characteristics and amounts, as it does not consider the potential growth once the low demand cycle associated with the construction industry ends, or new mining projects that demand lime," emphasised the director of CBB, Alfonso Rozas.

Nigeria: Holcim plans to sell Lafarge Africa to China-based Huaxin Cement for an equity value of US$1bn. The Switzerland-based building materials producer owns an 83% share of the subsidiary. The transaction is expected to close in 2025 subject to regulatory approvals.

Lafarge Africa operates four integrated cement plants in Nigeria at Sagamu and Ewekoro in Ogun State, at Mfamosing in Cross River State and the Ashaka Cement plant in Gombe State. It has a combined production capacity of 10.5Mt/yr. The company also holds a ready-mixed concrete production capacity of 0.4Mm3/yr. Its local recycling subsidiary, Geocycle, reported an alternative fuels thermal substitution rate of 37% in 2022.

US: Heidelberg Materials North America has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Giant Cement Holding, a cement producer on the US East Coast focused on using refuse-derived fuels, for US$600m. The acquisition will reportedly strengthen Heidelberg Materials’ cementitious footprint in the Southeastern US and New England markets and help to contribute to its circular offerings and decarbonisation efforts.

The transaction’s assets in the Southeastern US include an integrated cement plant with a capacity of 800,000t/yr in Harleyville, South Carolina, a network of four cement terminals in Georgia and South Carolina, and a joint venture deep-water import terminal in Savannah, Georgia. Assets in the New England area comprise a cement and slag terminal in Newington, New Hampshire, and a deep-water import terminal in Boston, Massachusetts. The transaction also includes Giant Resource Recovery, an alternative fuel recycling business with four facilities in the Eastern US. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025 and to contribute around US$60m in earnings by interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation in the first year of operation.

US: Quikrete has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Summit Materials for a total enterprise value of US$11.5bn. The deal will add Summit Materials’ aggregates, cement and ready-mixed concrete business to Quikrete’s concrete and cement-based products business to create a vertically integrated business in North America. Quikcrete’s acquisition offer was first revealed in late October 2024. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025 subject to shareholder approval at Summit Materials, regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.

Will Magill, CEO of Quikcrete, said “We are thrilled to welcome Summit into the Quikrete family.” He added, “This acquisition represents a significant milestone in our journey to expand our capabilities and geographic presence.”

Colombia-based Cementos Argos is Summit Materials’ largest shareholder with a 31% stake. It has agreed to vote all of its shares in Summit’s common stock in favour of the transaction. Cementos Argos says will generate a cash value of around US$2.9bn from the sales of its shares.

Kenya: Amsons Group, a Tanzanian business conglomerate with interests in power, construction, cement and concrete, has received regulatory approval from Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’s (Comesa) Competition Commission for its proposed acquisition of up to 100% of Bamburi Cement. The commission confirmed that the proposed acquisition falls within its ambit and does not pose a competition risk within the common market, with a statement saying “It is unlikely that the proposed merger will lead to the creation of a dominant position that would enable the parties to engage in unilateral conduct in the market.”

In July 2024 Amsons Group issued a binding offer to acquire up to a 100% stake in Bamburi Cement through its Kenyan subsidiary and investment vehicle, Amsons Industries (K) Ltd.

Speaking as he welcomed the Comesa Competition Commission’s approval, Amsons Group CEO Edha Nahdi said that the transaction is part of the group’s strategy to expand its footprint to the Kenyan market and trade across East Africa, saying “The approval is a significant boost to our offer as we continue to engage investors of Bamburi Cement. We remain confident that our acquisition bid will be successful as it presents a win-win scenario for the investors and our two countries.”

Chile: Cementos Bío Bío (Cbb) will likely have new owners soon, as the US group Mississippi Lime Company has offered to acquire 100% of the company for nearly US$400m and shareholders are now negotiating its sale. The producer’s board authorised a due diligence process in May 2024, which has now been substantially concluded. A shareholder of Cbb, Peru's Yura, launched an offer in November 2024 for 20% of the Chilean cement company, thus reaching 40% of the shares. Yura bought 20% of Cbb for US$50m in 2019.