Displaying items by tag: Australia

Australia: Adbri is part of a consortium of eight Australian industrial manufacturers, developers and port operators collaborating with AGL Energy on a feasibility study for a green hydrogen plant at the site of the latter’s Torrens Island power plant in South Australia. AFR Online News has reported that any future hydrogen plant established by the partners would rely on solar and wind power, which has large potential in the region.

The South Australian government previously launched its first US$414m green hydrogen project in Whyalla in March 2022.

Australia: Boral has appointed Vik Bansal as its chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director with effect by 5 December 2022. Zlatko Todorcevski will remain as CEO until transition to Bansal is completed.

Bansal holds over 30 years of management experience with industrial organisations. He has been the CEO of steel-manufacture InfraBuild since mid-2021. Prior to this he was the head of waste management company Cleanaway from 2015 to 2021. He is currently the chairman of LGI and has volunteered as a director for organisations including the National Waste & Recycling Industry Council, Waste Management & Resource Recovery and Disability Services Australia.

Bansal is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He originally trained as an electrical engineer, holds a master of business administration (MBA) degree and has completed the Advanced Management Program from INSEAD. He has also completed a Master of Laws in Enterprise Governance.

More mergers and acquisition news emerged this week in the shape of potential buyers for Sika’s US admixtures business. Reporting from Bloomberg revealed that Holcim, HeidelbergCement and Turkey-based Sabancı Holding had all made it, amongst other unnamed companies, to a second round of bidding for the assets. Sika then confirmed this to the Finanz und Wirtschaft newspaper and added that the sale would also relate to Canadian assets as well. The intention here is to bypass the risk of a lengthy competition investigation in the US.

Switzerland-based Sika announced in November 2021 that it had signed a deal to buy MBCC Group from Lone Star Funds, a global private equity firm, for Euro5.2bn. At the time of the announcement Sika said that the transaction was subject to regulatory approval but it added that it was ‘confident’ that all required clearances would be obtained with closure planned for the second half of 2022. Known competition probes are now pending in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. A previous piece from Bloomberg suggested that internal analysis by Sika found that the company might need to divest operations with annual sales of around US$160m with a value of US$400m. However, the latest update suggests a value of up to US$1bn. The US represented US$1.71bn or 18% of Sika’s total group sales in 2021. Sika’s information to shareholders to let them know about the MBCC acquisition in November 2021, showed that MBCC had sales of around US$966m in the Americas in 2021 with 36 production plants. Overall, not just in the US, the deal is expected to change Sika’s technology mix from 40% concrete and cement systems to 49%, with most of the additions coming from concrete applications.

Divestments were always likely in an acquisition this large between competitors with shared geographies. What is interesting here to the cement sector is that the three named interested parties are all cement producers. Holcim is perhaps the least surprising given its size, pivot towards light building materials and the fact that its current head, Jan Jenisch, used to run Sika. If anyone knows how much an admixture company is worth, it’s the guy who ran one five years ago! HeidelbergCement does not have such a large light building materials business footprint but it is demonstrably interested in making heavy building material production more sustainable. Also, as the world’s second largest western multinational cement producer it is likely to be interested in an input market for some of its end products. Sabancı Holding is the outlier in this grouping with a more regional grey cement business based in Turkey, an international white cement business and a diverse set of business interests including finance and energy. Although, even as the smallest of the bunch, it still reported sales revenue of over US$9bn in 2021. One notable absence from the potential contenders list for Sika USA is Cemex. Its Urbanisation Solutions division, which produces admixtures among other products, reported sales of US$1.9bn in 2021 or 13% of the group’s total revenue. US$558m of this was made in the US.

The wider context in the North American admixture market is that the announcement of Sika’s deal with MBCC in November 2021 was followed about a month later when Saint-Gobain said it had entered into a deal to buy GCP Applied Technologies. This followed Saint-Gobain’s acquisition of Chryso in October 2021. However, Saint-Gobain said that the GCP deal would strengthen its position more in North America. Readers can find out more about Saint-Gobain’s ambitions here.

The final word at this stage should go on Lone Star Funds, the current owner of MBCC. Lone Star Funds bought the construction chemicals business from BASF for Euro3.17bn in September 2020. At the time the acquisition closed Saori Dubourg, a member of the board of executive directors of BASF, said “Lone Star has been a professional partner in this transaction and is committed to the future success of the business.” If the reporting is correct, Lone Star Funds is now selling the same business for over Euro5bn. There are two takeaways to consider at this point. One is that the perceived value of products that make cement and concrete more sustainable are growing. The other is that Lone Star Funds timed its acquisition of MBCC from BASF very well.

Australia: Boral and carbon capture specialist Calix have received US$21m in government funding for the launch of carbon capture and storage (CCS) feasibility study at the producer's Berrima cement plant in New South Wales. Local press has reported that Boral aims to establish a 100,000t/yr-capacity capture facility at the plant. Initially, the project will involve commercial model and pilot design to assess the engineering and commercial viability of the project. This phase is scheduled for completion in June 2023.

Chief operating officer Darren Schulz said "This is game changing technology for our industry and will play a critical role in supporting customers' sustainability targets. Together, Boral and Calix have access to the required infrastructure, technology and operational expertise required to deliver this project and lead the way in reducing emissions across the industry." Schulz concluded "If successful, we believe this project will enable the national rollout of carbon capture technology to Australia's cement and lime industry creating smarter and more sustainable solutions for our customers."

Australia: James Hardie recorded sales of US$3.61bn in its 2022 financial year, up by 24% year-on-year from US$2.91bn in its 2021 financial year. The group’s North American fibre cement sales rose by 25% to US$2.55bn from US$2.04bn. Its Asia Pacific fibre cement sales rose by 22% to US$545m from US$446m, while its Europe building products sales rose by 20% to US$421m from US$351m.

Interim chief executive officer Harold Wiens said, “I am delighted to report that the James Hardie team has continued to deliver strong execution of our global strategy. This is reflected in strong price/mix growth in all three regions, including North America price/mix growth of 12%, Asia Pacific price/mix growth of 11% and Europe price/mix growth of 14%. The global team’s success in delivering high value products is the result of: one - enabling our customers to make more money by selling more James Hardie products; and two - marketing directly to the homeowners to create demand for our high value products through our customers.”

The group reaffirmed its 2023 financial year adjusted net income guidance range of US$740 - 820m.

Australia: Adbri’s chief executive officer Nick Miller has told investors at the Macquarie Australia Conference that his company is interested in buying parts of BGC, according to the Australian newspaper. Market analysts speculate that Adbri is interested in acquiring BGC’s cement, concrete and aggregate operations. However, Adbri is likely to face opposition from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission with regards to any attempted offer for BGC’s cement business.

BGC reportedly started its latest attempt to sell the company in April 2022. An indicative bidding round is planned for June 2022.

Australia: Adbri has committed to reduce its cement's CO₂ emissions by 20%/t by 2030. WA Today News has reported that the company also aims to offset 100% of CO₂ emissions from its electricity consumption by 2030. It aims to achieve net zero carbon cement production by 2050. Adbri says that it is Australia's only cement producer not to use coal, relying instead on a combination of gas and refuse derived fuel (RDF).

CEO Nick Miller said "This net-zero emissions roadmap builds on our strong decarbonisation progress to date and establishes clear targets and actions we will advance as we strive to achieve net zero emissions by 2050."

South Korea: Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has announced plans for a further increase to his country’s coal imports from Australia in order to enable cement production to continue and prevent a shortage. The Yonhap News Agency News has reported that the government plans to accelerate customs clearance processes around the fossil fuel. Hong added that the government will ‘sternly deal with any illegal hoarding or price fixing’ of cement.

Australia: Tino La Spina has resigned as the Chief Finance & Strategy Officer of Boral. The board of the company intends to provide notice of termination on 1 July 2022. La Spina, who was previously the chief executive officer (CEO) of airline Qantas International took the role at Boral in late 2020. Jared Gashel will immediately assume the role of Acting Chief Financial Officer until a permanent appointment is made. Gashel is currently working as Executive General Manager, Group Finance and Property.

In a statement, Boral’s chief executive officer Ryan Stokes said, “In a tough external operating environment, we have decided to accelerate transformational change.” Stokes became CEO of Boral in mid-2021 when his family’s company Seven Group became a majority shareholder.

Australia: BGC has started a second attempt to sell the company and has appointed Macquarie Capital to run the process. An indicative bidding round is planned for June 2022, according to the Australian Financial Review newspaper. The process is expected to take up to one year. BGC previously tried to find a buyer in 2018 but legal issues following the death of the company founder Len Buckeridge and a slowdown in the construction market in Western Australia made this difficult.

The company is presenting itself as a major presence in the West Australia cement market, with a 47% share, and the only organisation with a vertically integrated quarry, cement and concrete business. Macquarie Capital says that the company has an annual revenue of around US$740m and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$74m. Group earnings are reportedly mostly generated by heavy building materials, brick and masonry divisions. BGC assets include a cement grinding plant, concrete plants and a gypsum wallboard plant in Perth.