Displaying items by tag: Holcim
Nicaragua – Central America’s up-and-comer?
15 April 2015This week saw the announcement that Cemex and Holcim are both upping their stakes in Nicaragua to increase production. The companies have stated that they expect cement demand to grow significantly in the near future.
Holcim has started work on a US$10m project to increase production by 30% to 400,000t/yr at its Nagarote grinding plant. A second expansion phase will see production raised another 30%. Cemex, for its part, is building a US$55m, 440,000t/yr grinding plant in Ciudad Sandino. Completion is expected by 2017.
These new developments will make significant additions to Nicaragua's cement industry. Currently, it consists of one Cemex-owned 600,000t/yr integrated plant and one Holcim-owned 300,000t/yr grinding plant.
Nicargua has the dubious honour of being Central America's least developed economy and one of the poorest among all of the Americas. In recent years, however, its economy has grown dramatically, with significant expansion in the construction and mining sectors, indicating that Holcim and Cemex are right to bet on Nicargua. Indeed, late in 2014 president of the High Council of Private Enterprise, José Adán Aguerri said that the country had a significant cement shortage and was currently importing from Mexico and Colombia to meet its needs.
Driving cement demand in Nicaragua is the residential housing sector boosted by the growing population, much-needed infrastructure projects and the country's most controversial project, the Nicaragua Grand Canal. The canal will be, according to local media, a 'commercial waterway that will reshape commercial shipping, reap a windfall for investors and haul one of the hemisphere's poorest nations out of poverty.' Heavily backed by Chinese investors, it is deeply unpopular with industry experts and locals alike. There have been lots of questions as to whether there is enough demand for the canal, while its construction will divert scant resources, particularly water, away from agriculture, the country's main industry. The project will, however, contribute significantly to cement demand until its completion, which is expected in 2019.
So is Nicaragua the place to be? Its near-future economic and construction sector outlooks certainly look strong, but the cement industry relies heavily on long-term infrastructure plans, which are sorely lacking. Additionally, none of Nicaragua's neighbouring countries have noteworthy cement deficits. This means that export market opportunities from Nicaragua are in short supply. Nicaragua's future depends overwhelmingly on its leaders' long term-planning abilities...
Future board of directors of LafargeHolcim nominated
14 April 2015Europe: In the framework of their proposed merger of equals, the boards of directors (BoD) of Holcim and Lafarge have nominated their candidates for the future BoD of LafargeHolcim, subject to closing of the transaction. The designated BoD will consist of 14 members due to be elected at the Holcim Extraordinary General Meeting on 8 May 2015.
The candidates are:
• Wolfgang Reitzle, Co-Chairman (currently Chairman of the BoD of Holcim);
• Bruno Lafont, Co-Chairman (currently Chairman of the BoD and Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge);
• Beat Hess, Vice-Chairman (currently Deputy Chairman of the BoD of Holcim);
• Bertrand Collomb (currently Honorary Chairman of Lafarge);
• Philippe Dauman (currently member of the BoD of Lafarge);
• Paul Desmarais Jr. (currently member of the BoD of Lafarge);
• Oscar Fanjul (currently Vice-Chairman of the BoD of Lafarge);
• Alexander Gut (currently member of the BoD of Holcim);
• Gérard Lamarche (currently member of the BoD of Lafarge);
• Adrian Loader (currently member of the BoD of Holcim);
• Nassef Sawiris (currently member of the BoD of Lafarge);
• Thomas Schmidheiny (currently member of the BoD of Holcim);
• Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen (currently member of the BoD of Holcim);
• Dieter Spälti (currently member of the BoD of Holcim).
Subject to the execution and completion of the merger project, Anne Wade and Jürg Oleas will resign from their office as members of the BoD at Holcim with effect as of the completion of the merger project.
Eric Olsen named as future CEO of LafargeHolcim
09 April 2015Europe: The boards of directors of Lafarge and Holcim have approved the appointment of Eric Olsen as future Chief Executive Officer of LafargeHolcim, to be in office as from the closing of the merger project.
At present Eric Olsen is Lafarge Executive Vice-President of Operations. He has been a member of the Group's Executive Committee since 2007. Aged 51, Olsen has dual American and French nationalities. He has extensive international experience and has held senior positions in operations and in the fields of finance, human resources and strategy.
Commenting on the appointment, Wolfgang Reitzle, Chairman of the Holcim Board and future co-Chairman of LafargeHolcim, said, "I very much welcome Eric Olsen as future CEO for LafargeHolcim. With his broad international experience and insights in key markets, he is best positioned to lead the combined company for the benefit of employees, shareholders and customers. Bruno Lafont and I will support Eric in creating a new joint culture that will be the key driver for our premier competitive position."
Lafarge Chairman and CEO, and future LafargeHolcim co-Chairman, Bruno Lafont, added, "I have every confidence in his ability to deliver the synergies announced and ensure the development and the success of LafargeHolcim."
Spain: Spanish competition regulator CNMC has included Lafarge and Holcim in the proceedings for alleged cartel agreements brought up against a number of sector players at the end of 2014. Additionally, the CNMC has extended the proceedings to Materiales y Hormigones and Hormibusa. The move was based on information gathered during several inspections carried out in September 2014 for alleged exchange of information, price fixing and market division practices in the cement and concrete sector. The CNMC will complete the investigation and produce a resolution within 18 months.
Nicaragua: Cement companies Holcim and Cemex are increasing their investments in Nicaragua in preparation to supply the volumes required by the country over the coming years.
Holcim Nicaragua has inaugurated a US$10m project that will increase production by 30% and exceed 400,000t/yr. The business now has a new dynamic separator at its plant in Nagarote that will increase production through a more efficient use of raw materials and energy resources. It has also announced a second expansion phase, involving a US$6m investment to increase production by another 30%. The company, which has a 47% stake in the national cement market has ensured that it has sufficient reserves to produce the same volume of cement for 50 years.
Similarly, Cemex Nicaragua is building a US$55m plant in Ciudad Sandino in order to increase its annual production from 440,000t/yr to 800,000t/yr from 2017.
Holcim's top shareholder supports Olsen as new CEO
09 April 2015Europe: Holcim's largest shareholder Thomas Schmidheiny is happy with the appointment of Lafarge executive Eric Olsen as the future head of LafargeHolcim once the merger is completed. "Thomas Schmidheiny views Eric Olsen as a very good appointment," said Schmidheiny's spokesman. Shareholders of Holcim still need to ratify the merger at a vote in May 2015.
Switzerland: Holcim's chairman Wolfgang Reitzle has said that Holcim is open to giving Russia's Eurocement a seat on the board after its merger with French peer Lafarge goes through, chairman Wolfgang Reitzle said yesterday.
On 29 March 2015 Russian businessman Filaret Galchev, who owns a 10.8% stake in Holcim via Eurocement Holding, rejected the renegotiated merger terms that Holcim had reached with Lafarge in mid-March.
"It would be beneficial to have him in the board as he would bring in lots of expertise from the cement sector," said Reitzle of Galchev. He added that the future chief executive of the combined company would be named within the next two weeks.
Reitzle excluded re-opening the negotiations with Lafarge on the share-exchange ratio or paying a special dividend to Holcim shareholders to win them over to the deal.
Holcim shareholders, some of whom remain sceptical of the cement industry mega-merger, vote on whether or not to ratify the deal at a shareholder meeting on Friday 8 May 2015.
LafargeHolcim merger receives clearance in India
01 April 2015India: Lafarge and Holcim have received clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for their proposed merger.
A package of asset divestments has been agreed with the CCI which includes Lafarge's Sonadih cement plant and its Jojobera grinding station, with a total of approximately 5Mt/yr of production capacity, in Eastern India. LafargeHolcim will have a cement capacity of around 68Mt/yr in India.
The divestment process will be carried out in the framework of the relevant social processes and ongoing dialogue with the employee representatives' bodies. The divestment process will be completed subject to the closing of the merger between Lafarge and Holcim.
Europe: Two major Holcim shareholders remain displeased with the revised deal terms that were designed to placate them, according to Reuters.
Russian businessman Filaret Galchev, who owns a 10.8% in Holcim via Eurocement Holding AG, has rejected the new terms and is seeking further improvement to the exchange ratio, according to a Eurocement source. Additionally, Harris Associates, which owns 3.19% of Holcim, has said that it will not back the LafargeHolcim merger until it knows who will replace Lafont as head of the new company.
"Before we decide on the transaction, we first want to know who will be put forward for this post," said David Herro, chief investment officer for international equities at Harris, in an interview with Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft.
Europe: Eurocement Holding AG, the second-largest shareholder in Holcim with a 10.82% stake, plans to vote against the LafargeHolcim meger unless the financial terms of the deal are altered, according to local media.
Eurocement, which is owned by financier Filaret Galchev, believes that the terms of the deal continue to undervalue Holcim despite a revision of the agreement. The deal, which was originally structured as a one-for-one share swap, now offers nine Holcim shares for 10 Lafarge shares. According to local media, Eurocement's complaint is solely with the exchange ratio and it has notified Holcim and Lafarge of its concerns.
Eurocement alone can't derail the deal, which requires the approval of two thirds of Holcim's shareholders at an extraordinary shareholders meeting, scheduled for 8 May 2015.