Displaying items by tag: GCW212
CRH completes LafargeHolcim acquisition
03 August 2015Ireland: On 2 February 2015, CRH announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire certain assets from Lafarge and Holcim for Euro6.5bn. The deal has now been completed, with the exception of the Philippines, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.
"Today we extend a warm welcome to 15,000 new colleagues joining CRH. With their expertise and talent on board, combined with the strength of our existing employee base, CRH is a step closer to achieving our aim of becoming the world's leading building materials company. The businesses we are acquiring, which represent an excellent geographic fit with CRH's existing operations, are all strong performers in their respective areas. The integration of these high quality assets, which we have acquired at an attractive valuation and at the right point of the cycle, will strengthen our presence in a number of key markets as well as providing new platforms for strategic growth. The additional scale will help us to improve efficiency, speed up innovation and provide an even better service to our customers," said Albert Manifold, CRH chief executive.
The transaction more than doubles CRH's cement production volumes and will further expand its aggregates and ready-mixed concrete portfolios. The acquired assets consist of more than 685 locations in 11 countries and include:
- The largest cement producer in central Canada; an excellent fit with CRH's existing Americas Materials business;
- Major cement and aggregates operations in western Europe's three largest markets: The UK, France and Germany;
- Leading cement and aggregates companies in the growth regions of central and eastern Europe, creating a strong regional cluster in which CRH becomes the number one heavy-side building materials company;
- Entry positions of scale in two emerging economic regions; Brazil and the Philippines.
With the closure, Tarmac and Blue Circle come together to form Tarmac, under the new ownership of CRH, according to Agg-Net. The company's new branding combines the heritage and innovation associated with the Tarmac name and the unique identity of the Blue Circle logo. The newly combined business is now the market leader in aggregates, asphalt, contracting services, lime and powders and is a leading player nationwide in cement, concrete and other building products.
"This is an exciting evolution for our business. With our new owner CRH in place to support the ongoing development and delivery of our strategic vision, we're in an exceptionally strong position to deliver our growth ambitions and continue creating value for our customers, our shareholders and our employees," said Tarmac's CEO, Cyrille Ragoucy, said. Tarmac has confirmed that there will be no change to its relationships with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.
Results of the re-opened LafargeHolcim public exchange offer
03 August 2015Europe: The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has published the final results of the re-opened public exchange offer initiated by LafargeHolcim for the shares of Lafarge.
Some 25,901,191 additional Lafarge shares have been tendered. Following the settlement-delivery of the re-opened offer, which is expected to occur on 4 August 2015, LafargeHolcim will hold 278,131,864 Lafarge shares representing 96.41% of the share capital and at least 95.25% of the voting rights of Lafarge. As at least 95% of the share capital and voting rights in Lafarge have been tendered, LafargeHolcim could request the AMF to implement a squeeze-out procedure pursuant to the general regulations of the AMF for all issued and outstanding Lafarge shares not tendered to the public exchange offer. As of yet, no decision by the LafargeHolcim board of directors of LafargeHolcim has been taken in this regard.
Italy: HeidelbergCement rushed to buy control of Italcementi after fears that Nigeria's Dangote Cement also showed interest in the Italian cement maker, according to PM News. It has been reported that Dangote did not make a formal offer for Italcementi.
Carl Franklin, head of investor relations at Dangote, said that the company did not comment on specific rumours, but said that "As a large company we examine all options for growth." HeidelbergCement has not commented on whether it had faced competition from Dangote.
According to unnamed sources, the talks between HeidelbergCement and Italcementi began four months ago.
Italcementi chief executive Carlo Pesenti told local media that the deal was 'bulletproof' and there was no space for counter offers. The only outstanding condition was clearance from antitrust authorities. "If it wasn't for the antitrust approval, the shares would have already changed hands," said an unnamed source.
Having already agreed to acquire a 45% stake of Italcementi, HeidelbergCement plans to obtain as many of the remaining shares as possible in the upcoming mandatory buy-out offer, then squeeze out the remaining shareholders and make Italcementi privately-owned.
High Court overturns rulings against CRH in Goode case
03 August 2015Ireland: The Supreme Court has overturned rulings made by a High Court judge in proceedings by Goode Concrete against CRH on grounds of alleged objective bias arising from the judge holding some Euro135,000 in CRH shares, according to The Irish Times.
Chief Justice Susan Denham said that, if the judges held shares directly in a company involved in litigation before them, as opposed to shares held in a pension plan or unit fund over which they have no control, they should 'generally' not hear the action. The disputed rulings, all unfavourable to the Goode side, were made between 2010 and 2012 by Justice John Cooke, who has since retired, on pre-trial matters in Goode Concrete's action over alleged uncompetitive practices by CRH. The issues will now be reheard before a different High Court judge.
By a four-to-one majority, the Supreme Court granted Goode's appeals against the rulings after finding that Justice Cooke erred in law in hearing the applications due to reasonable apprehension of objective bias due to his CRH shareholding. Justice Cooke held the shares himself; they were not in a trust or any other type of fund.
Italy: Italcementi has reported a profit of Euro3.8m in the first half of 2015 compared to a loss of Euro79m in the same period of 2014. Its revenue rose by 6% to Euro2.17bn, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 5% to Euro324m. The company expects a slight improvement in operating results in the entirety of 2015.
Nigeria: Dangote Cement's pre-tax profit in the first half of 2015 rose by 20.2% year-on-year to US$646m, according to Reuters. Its revenue rose to US$1.22bn from US$1.05bn in the same period of 2014.
Qatar National Cement’s 2015 first half profit up
31 July 2015Qatar: Qatar National Cement has reported that its profit for the first six months of 2015 rose to US$66.6m form US$65.3m in the same period of 2014, according to MarketLine. Its revenue for the first six months grew to US$160m from US$147m in the first six months of 2014. Its gross profit fell to US$63.3m from US$65.9m in 2014.
Dangote plans new cement plant in Chongwe
31 July 2015Zambia: Dangote Group has announced plans to build a new cement plant in Chongwe, Lusaka, according to All Africa. Meanwhile, its cement plant in Masaiti is due to be officially commissioned on 4 August 2015.
Holcim New Zealand develops Waitemata Port
31 July 2015New Zealand: Holcim New Zealand is building a new cement silo at the Waitemata Port. Cement ships will relocate from Onehunga to the new site, which is expected to be completed in the middle of 2016, according to the Manukau Courier. A Holcim spokesperson said that the Onehunga Port will continue to be used as a bagging plant and the silos will remain operational.
Italy: The takeover by HeidelbergCement of Italcementi 'represents a form of military occupation,' according to political party Northern League leader Matteo Salvini on 29 July 2015.
In an interview with the League's radio station Padania Salvini, which is strongly opposed to European integration and the common currency, Salvini said that the HeidlebergCement purchase fit with the wider strategy of what he suggested was a 'German-led Eurozone takeover of Italy.'
"What the Germans were not able to do with tanks and with the Brownshirts, they're now able to do thanks to Soviet Europe," said Salvini during the radio call-in programme. "If these were free choices by free-market entrepreneurs, there would be no question. If they are chosen as constricted subsidiaries, in a Europe with a currency assembled to help the Germans, then they are part of a strategy of military occupation."