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Displaying items by tag: Acquisition
CRH confirms continued interest in India
04 January 2013Ireland: CRH chief executive Myles Lee has confirmed that the building materials group is interested in expanding its presence in India. The comment follows rumours from the Indian media that CRH and Holcim are both in separate talks with the Shriram Group to buy a stake in Sree Jayajothi Cements (SJJCL).
Lee said that CRH remained interested in expanding its presence in India, but declined to comment on Sree Jayajothi. CRH 'terminated' negotiations with Jaypee Cement Corporation in October 2012 because the parties were unable to agree terms.
"We have been on the lookout for a partner for quite some time and we keep having several discussions with different players both strategic and financial," said T Shivaraman, managing director and chief executive of Shriram Engineering and Procurement Company, which owns SJJCL. He refused to comment on the involvement of either CRH or Holcim. It has been reported that private equity giants Blackstone and KKR are also in separate preliminary talks with Shriram about its stake in the cement manufacturer. SJJCL owns a cement plant with a production capacity of 3.2Mt/yr based in Andhra Pradesh.
The rumours arrived at the same time that CRH announced it had made acquisitions and investments valued at Euro630m in 2012. The bulk of the money was spent in the US, where Euro256m was spent in the second half of the year. In Europe CRH spent Euro119m in the second half of 2012 in acquisitions in Finland and the UK. Lee confirmed that CRH holds between Euro1bn and Euro1.5bn to spend on deals.
Both CRH and Holcim have a combined capacity of around 61Mt/yr in India. Holcim controls ACC and Ambuja Cements while CRH has a venture with Hyderabad-based My Home Industries, which owns a 4.2Mt/yr plant.
China Resources buys grinding unit
03 January 2013China: China Resources Cement (CRC) has announced that it has agreed to acquire a 100% equity stake in Hainan Wuzhishan Dajiangnan Cement Limited at a total of US$8.4m. Hainan Wuzhishan Dajiangnan operates a 0.6Mt/yr cement grinding line in Maoyang Town, Wuzhishan City, Hainan Province.
CRC says that the acquisition will expand the strategic locations of its business and strengthen its market position in Hainan Province.
PPC expands into Rwanda with Cimerwa deal
13 December 2012Rwanda/South Africa: The major South African cement producer PPC (Pretoria Portland Cement) has purchased a 51% stake in the Rwandan firm Cimerwa for US$69.4m in cash. The deal is in line with PPC's vision of making 50% of its revenue outside South Africa itself in the coming years. The deal comes after a similar deal between PPC and Ethiopia's Habesha Cement, of which it has bought a 27% stake.
"This transaction is a further step in our commitment to invest in sub-Saharan Africa and we are very confident about Rwanda," said PPC's CEO Paul Stuiver. "The Cimerwa plant is located in a challenging but very strategic region in East Africa, which currently lacks significant cement production capacity."
Cimerwa, in south-west Rwanda, has been the only cement producer in the country for 28 years. It has the capacity to make 0.1Mt/yr of cement but is currently undergoing a 0.6Mt/yr expansion project that is due to be commissioned in 2014.
Cement demand in Rwanda is estimated at 0.35Mt/yr but, based on the region's positive economic outlook, regional cement demand is projected to increase to 1Mt/yr in the next decade. "Combined with our recent investment in Ethiopia, the Cimerwa transaction will increase PPC's revenue outside of South Africa to more than 30% by 2015-16," added Stuiver.
"Rwanda looks like an attractive market to build capacity, with robust gross domestic product growth expectations, a large supply deficit in the cement market and challenging logistics for importing cement," said Ross Heyns, an equity analyst at Kagiso Asset Management. However, Heyns said that it appeared that PPC had paid a fairly hefty price for the asset. "After raising the additional US$104m of debt and expanding the plant's capacity to 0.7Mt/yr, the US$69.4m that they are paying for 51% of Cimerwa implies a total valuation for the business (including debt) of US$400/t of cement capacity," he said.
PPC's desire to expand to more locations outside of South Africa is in part due to the current overcapacity in that market. The country has a capacity of 16Mt/yr but is only likely to produce 11Mt in 2012. This overcapacity will not be helped when the 2.6Mt/yr Sephaku Cement plant, backed by Nigeria's Dangote Group, comes online in 2013.
Jaypee nears end of Gujarat asset sale
12 December 2012India: The talks between Jaypee Group and Aditya Birla Group regarding the sale of the former's Gujarat based cement units have finally moved to the final stages, according to local media. It was reported that valuations of the deal, which had already resulted in failed acquisition attempts by others, have continued to cause delays.
Birla has been negotiating the cost of Jaypee's Gujarat cement units with the aim of paying a total of US$800m. The reports say that Birla had offered to purchase the units at US$160/t of installed capacity. This is significantly lower than the US$200/t paid during deals between Holcim and ACC.
Vertical rumour mill: Jaypee Group takeover tales
05 December 2012Step forward UltraTech Cement into the vertical rumour mill! The Indian cement producer is the latest company reported as wanting to buy Jaypee Group's cement business in Gujarat. It follows Italcementi, Aditya Birla and CRH, who announced in October 2012 that negotiations had been 'terminated' as the parties had been unable to agree terms.
This time the asking price has risen, with Ultratech allegedly offering US$160-165/t and Jaypee holding out for US$180-185/t. Whilst UltraTech hasn't publicly confirmed the move, it pointedly hasn't denied it either. The Aditya Birla Group subsidiary only commented to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had not issued any press releases on the subject. Aditya Birla Group itself was reported in October 2012 as pursing interest at US$130/t for Jaypee's 9.8Mt/yr operations in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Given the number of rumours and cash-rich CRH's very public failure to strike a deal it seems likely that Jaypee has a specific price in mind and it's sticking to it. Prasad Baji of Edelweiss Securities stated in a television interview with CNBC-TV18 that he thought that the cement industry cycle was starting to look up. Crucially he predicted that India's capacity utilisation was set to rise from its current level of 78% to 82% despite price declines in the current quarter.
This is in sharp contrast with Fitch Ratings which rated the Indian cement industry with a negative outlook at the start of 2012 and reports in late May 2012 that capacity ultilisation had actually fallen from 76% to 71%. Since then ICRA Research reported in late September 2012 that it expected Indian capacity ultilisation to stick to 76% for 2012 with prices showing 'resistance' in some regions to cost increases due to rising input costs.
With all this in mind it seems likely that UltraTech will join the growing list of Jaypee's spurned buyers when it fails to reach terms or when the rumours simply fizzle out. However if UltraTech does strike a deal the Indian industry will be the one to watch in 2013. According to data in the Global Cement Directory 2013, an acquisition of nearly 10Mt/yr production capacity would boost UltraTech's capacity to 62Mt/yr making it the 12th largest cement company in the world.
UltraTech fails to deny Jaypee takeover rumours
05 December 2012India: UltraTech Cement has reported to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it has not issued any press releases concerning rumours in the Indian press that it is in talks to buy Jaypee Group's cement business in Gujarat. It added that the company does not comment on market speculation. Jaypee has not commented.
Indian press reported that UltraTech is planning to buy Jaypee Group's cement business in Ahmedabad for US$700- 890m by the end of 2012. UltraTech is allegedly 'keen' to buy Jaypee's 4.8Mt/yr Gujarat capacity at US$160- 165/t. Jaypee want to sell it at US$180-185/t.
Jaypee Group is the India's third largest cement maker with an installed capacity of 33.5Mt/yr. Jaiprakash Associates, the flagship company of the group, holds the majority of the cement business. However, operations in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, which have a total capacity of 9.8Mt/yr, are run by Jaypee Cement, which was hived off six months ago for monetising the asset. UltraTech Cement is a part of the US$24.5bn diversified Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group. The company, along with its subsidiaries, has a cement production capacity of 52Mt/yr.
Adelaide Brighton buys 30% of Cementir Holding unit
05 December 2012Australia: Australian building materials producer Adelaide Brighton will buy a 30% stake in a Malaysian white clinker and white cement producer, Aalborg Portland Malaysia (APM) for US$29.7m. APM is owned by Aalborg Portland A/S, a subsidiary of Italian entity Cementir Holding. The deal also secures a 10 year supply agreement with APM and continues Adelaide Brighton's efforts to access raw material given its 'maxed-out' production capability.
"The high dollar, rising power costs, the carbon tax and increasing labour costs make building a new plant in Australia too high in terms of capital expenditure costs," said Adelaide Brighton's chief financial officer Michael Kelly. He added that Adelaide Brighton needs to secure imports and that the acquisition provides a strategic position in Asia for the company.
APM is also considering a US$18.6m expansion of the plant to increase white clinker production capacity from about 2015. Imports of cementitious products, including grey and white clinker, cement and blast furnace slag are expected to increase from approximately 1.6Mt/yr in 2012 to more than 2Mt/yr in 2016.
Buzzi purchases more of Dyckerhoff
26 November 2012Italy/Germany: German cement maker Dyckerhoff has announced that its parent company, Italy's Buzzi Unicem, has agreed to buy additional ordinary and preferred shares in it, raising its total share capital in the firm by 3.6% to 96.6%.
The German company did not reveal the value of the transaction but specified that during the current year and including the most recent agreement Buzzi Unicem had bought shares in it for some Euro71.7m.
As a shareholder of at least 95% of Dyckerhoff, Buzzi Unicem is entitled, under the German law, to start a 'squeeze-out' procedure for the remaining shares that it does not already own. However, it has not yet made any final decision on such a move, according to Dyckerhoff.
Lafarge and Tarmac to sell UK assets to Mittal Investments
16 November 2012UK: Lafarge SA and Anglo American plc have announced they have agreed to sell a portfolio of Tarmac and Lafarge construction materials operations in the UK and Tarmac's 50% ownership interest in Midland Quarry Products Limited (MQP) to Mittal Investments, the private investment vehicle of the Lakshmi N Mittal family.
The consideration paid by Mittal Investments for the assets is Euro338m including up to Euro37m based on the performance of the underlying assets over the next three years. In addition, an estimated amount of Euro16m relating to working capital of the divested assets not transferring with the business will be released as funding to the newly formed joint venture between Lafarge and Tarmac.
The divestments, which are conditional upon regulatory approval, comprise a cement plant in Hope, Derbyshire, with a capacity of 1.4Mt/yr and related depots; a network of 172 ready mix concrete plants; five aggregates quarries, two asphalt plants, one marine aggregates wharf and one rail-linked aggregates depot; the sale of Tarmac's 50% ownership interest in MQP, which is also subject to regulatory approval, and a right of pre-emption in favour of Hanson Quarry Products Europe Limited.
The sale of these assets is the principal condition to receiving final clearance from the Competition Commission for the formation of a 50:50 joint venture, which will combine Tarmac's and Lafarge's cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and asphalt surfacing and maintenance services and waste services businesses in the United Kingdom in a joint venture (JV).
Completion of the JV is expected in early 2013 and, once established, the companies say that it will create a new, leading UK construction materials company, with a portfolio of high quality assets, drawing on the complementary geographical distribution of operations, the skills of two experienced management teams and a portfolio of well-recognised, innovative brands.
Lafarge said that a further announcement would be made in due course.
Semen Gresik buys Thang Long Cement
15 November 2012Vietnam: Indonesian cement producer Semen Gresik has bought the Vietnamese cement company Thang Long Cement. The purchase was included in a conditional sales purchase agreement between Semen Gresik and Ha Noi General Export Import Joint Stock Company (Geleximco). Semen Gresik refused to state the value of the deal or the percentage of shares it had acquired.
"I am afraid we cannot mention it right now, but we are the majority. We will let you know in a month from now," said Dwi Sutjipto, Semen Gresik CEO. With the acquisition Semen Gresik hope to increase its market share and production capacity in Vietnam.
Thang Long Cement has a total production capacity of 2.3Mt/yr. Two new factories are expected to open soon, in the Quang Ninh and Binh Phuoc provinces, increasing the company's total capacity to 6.5Mt/yr.