Displaying items by tag: Competition

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has raided the offices of LafargeHolcim subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cement and Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement as part of an investigation into alleged anti-competitive behaviour, according to the Press Trust of India. ACC said it, "is of the firm view that it has acted and continues to act in compliance with competition laws and we are fully cooperating with the investigation and providing all necessary information to the authorities."

Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa has launched a national essay competition entitled “Building the Nigeria of My Dreams.” The competition is open to all primary and secondary school pupils. The producer says that it ’further affirms the company’s commitment to bridging the literacy gap in Nigeria.’ It said, “This will help improve literacy amongst young adults and also engender loyalty to the nation as they will write about their hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian nation they desire. The online essay competition aligns with reports that show that citizens do much better when they are literate as they become equipped to become better adults and even more successful in their careers.”

Chief executive officer (CEO) Khaled El-Dokani said, "We recognise that the depth and quality of a country’s human capital are as important as its physical infrastructure, hence our investment over the past seven years in enhancing the Nigerian educational sector just as we are committed to empowering Nigerians through our world class building solutions.” He continued, “One of our key sustainability priorities at Lafarge Africa is our commitment to our communities through education and we are actively collaborating with the government and the private sector to improve the country's literacy ratio towards making an impact in reducing the World Bank estimate which states that over 80% of Nigerian primary school leavers cannot read.”

Communications, public affairs and sustainable development director Folashade Ambrose-Medebem said, “We have so far impacted more than 700,000 primary school pupils in 1665 schools across 544 local government areas (LGAs). Our volunteers, who are employees of Lafarge Africa have spent over 6212hr with over 250 public primary students. This crucial involvement shows our genuine concerns about Nigeria’s literacy gap and commitment towards bridging that gap.”

UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has accepted Breedon Group’s proposed divestments as part of its acquisition of certain assets from Cemex subsidiary Cemex Investments. The agreement will see the divestment of 14 sites - including a cement terminal, two quarries and 10 ready-mix plants - to Tillicoultry Quarries.

The building materials producer said that it “notes the announcement today by the CMA that it has accepted Breedon's undertakings in lieu of a reference to a Phase 2 investigation in respect of its acquisition of certain assets from Cemex Investments Limited.”

UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has written to HeidelbergCement subsidiary Hanson UK to express concern and set out actions to prevent a recurrence of a breach of a market data order for “data disclosed which could have been a proxy for Individual Cement Market Data.” The CMA says that on 11 September 2020 Hanson made a payment in error to the Mineral Products Association (MPA) which involved three pieces of information: the payment; relating to MPA subscription fees, remittance advice relating to the payment; and an invoice following the MPA’s querying of the payment. In the view of the CMA each piece of information breached the Cement Market Data Order, because it contained ascertainable cement volume data information.

Hanson has explained that the breach arose due to administrative error.

South Africa: The Competition Tribunal has confirmed an agreement between PPC and the South African Competition Commission granting the company immunity from prosecution in an investigation allegedly involving price fixing and market sharing between local cement producers from 1995 to 2009. The Cape Times newspaper has reported that the ruling additionally granted the company immunity from related fines. PPC has reportedly agreed not to engage in price fixing or prohibited conduct in the future. The Commission said, "In addition, it will have to develop a competition law compliance programme."

AfriSam and Lafarge Industries South Africa paid fines related to the case. However, a case against Natal Portland Cement (NPC) was dismissed.

UK: Breedon Group says that it has agreed to sell 14 sites to Tillicoultry Quarries for Euro13.5m. The sale includes a cement terminal and two quarries in Scotland, and 10 ready-mix plants and an asphalt plant in England. Breedon says it is making the divestment in order to meet the concerns of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) with regard to its takeover of part of Cemex UK’s ready-mix and aggregates operations. Once completed the group expects to be able to finalise its integration of the remaining assets acquired from Cemex into its existing business.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Pat Ward said, "We are very pleased with the outcome of this process and believe it is in the interests all stakeholders. It allows Breedon to realise fair value for the assets disposed of, which, together with the people employed in them, will be in good hands under new ownership by Tillicoultry Quarries."

France: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim and Netherlands-based Witteveen + Bos have launched the 3D Printing Hackathon, an event in which engineering, architecture, and materials science students will compete to develop a new product leveraging 3D concrete printing technology to solve major problems in construction.

LafargeHolcim will supply concrete and provide technical mentorship to contestants. The company said that, while construction accounts for 40% of global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, 1.6bn people are altogether without adequate housing. “Building more with less accelerates the speed of construction and reduces a building’s footprint. Leading the way in green building solutions, LafargeHolcim is actively deploying 3D printing towards addressing these challenges.” Research and development head Edelio Bermejo added, “We need to join forces to make this ground-breaking technology a reality. Join us on this exciting adventure!”

The group is offering a prize pool of Euro15,000 and operational support for full-scale implementation of the winning 3D printing solution.

Egypt: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has approved HeidelbergCement and Simon France subsidiary Suez Cement’s mandatory tender offer (MTO) for acquisition of a 100% stake in Egyptian Tourah Portland Cement for US$32.7m. Daily News Egypt has reported that the FRA also approved a change to Suez Cement’s ownership, with HeidelbergCement France acquiring a 33% stake in the company.

Croatia: A European Union (EU) court has ruled in favour of the European Commission’s antitrust veto of Germany-based HeidelbergCement and Schwenk Zement’s 2017 acquisition agreement with Mexico-based Cemex for acquisition of its subsidiary Cemex Croatia. The court said that the deal was anti-competitive in that it had the potential to push up cement prices in Croatia, in spite of HeidlebergCement and Schwenk Zement’s offer to grant other cement suppliers access to a terminal.

Pakistan: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has conducted a search of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) headquarters in Lahore, Punjab Province as part of it investigation into alleged anticompetitiveness by cement producers. The Daily Frontier Star has reported that the aim of the search was “to gather evidence of possible communication, arrangement, agreement or understanding between cement producers pertaining to the alleged violation of the provisions of the Competition Act.” The CCP launched the investigation in May 2020 following a request from the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP).