Displaying items by tag: Merger

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) and Dalmia Refractories plan to merge their refractory businesses. The subsidiaries of Dalmia Bharat have approved schemes of arrangement to consolidate under a single company known as Dalmia OCL. Dalmia OCL in turn will be held by a holding company known as Dalmia Bharat Refractories. The intention of the merger process is to create a single refractory company of ‘significant’ size, to simplify the corporate structure and to achieve economies of scale.

Nigeria: Obu Cement and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), both subsidiaries of BUA Group, are set to merge. Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder and executive chairman of BUA Group, said that the merger ‘marks the culmination of the first phase of the BUA mid-term strategic plan,’ which aims at deepening the domestic cement market and enhancing industry growth.

Rabiu stated that the completion of the 3Mt/yr integrated Sokota Kalambaina II cement plant and a 48MW power station, construction of which began in 2018, has been scheduled for the second half of 2020. In addition to its four existing plants, this will bring the group’s total integrated cement production capacity to 11Mt/yr.

India: UltraTech Cement has declared the scheme of arrangement between itself and Century Textiles and Industries as part of its merger process. It will issue one equity share worth US$0.14 each for every eight equity shares of the same value held by the shareholders of Century Textiles and Industries. UltraTech Cement received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the acquisition of the cement business of Century Textiles and Industries in late August 2018 but it faced legal challenges subsequently.

The acquisition further strengthens UltraTech Cement’s lead in the Indian market. It says it is now the only company outside of China to have a production capacity of more than 100Mt/yr in a single country. It also claims that it is the third largest cement company in the world excluding those based in China.

India: UltraTech Cement plans to complete its merger with Century Cement by September 2019. Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said the company has approval from shareholders, the Competition Commission and stock exchanges, according to the Mint newspaper. However, it still needs permission from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The merger, which was first announced in May 2018, is a long running reorganisation of assets belonging to the Birla family. Once complete it is expected to give UltraTech Cement dominance in all regional markets with the addition of 13.4Mt/yr of production capacity in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

Finland: Metso and Outotec have agreed to merge Metso Minerals and Outotec to create a company specialising in process technology, equipment and services serving the minerals, metals and aggregates industries. The new company will be called Metso Outotec. Metso Flow Control will be excluded from the merger and renamed as Neles and run as a separate company. The companies comprising Metso Outotec had combined sales of around Euro3.9bn in 2018.

The merger will be implemented through a partial demerger of Metso, in which all assets and liabilities of Metso that relate to Metso Minerals will transfer to Outotec in exchange for newly-issued shares in Outotec to be delivered to Metso shareholders. Outotec shareholders will continue to own their shares in Outotec.
The transaction will be dependent on shareholder and regulatory approval. The process is expected complete in the second quarter of 2020.

The current chief executive officer (CEO) of Metso, Pekka Vauramo, will become Metso Outotec’s CEO, and the current CEO of Outotec, Markku Teräsvasara, will become the Deputy CEO of Metso Outotec. Eeva Sipilä will become the chief financial officer (CFO) and Deputy CEO of Metso Outotec. The board of Metso Outotec will include board members from both companies. It is proposed that Metso Outotec’s chairman will be Mikael Lilius and that the Vice Chairman will be Matti Alahuhta.

“Today is an exciting day as we announce the transformational combination of two great companies and simultaneously create an independent leader in flow control. The combination of Metso and Outotec is a unique opportunity to deliver significant value for our shareholders with a broad presence across minerals, metals and aggregates value chains and an even stronger platform for growth and innovation,” said Mikael Liliu.

Nigeria: The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria’s (CCNN) profit rose in 2018 following its merger with Kalambaina Cement. Its profit after tax grew by 77% year-on-year to US$15.9m in 2018 from US$8.9m in 2017, according to the Punch newspaper. It produced 0.76Mt of cement in 2018 and it sold 0.74Mt. The company is planning to expand its production distribution in north-east and north-central regions as it does not expect the north-west to absorb its enlarged production capacity of 2Mt/yr.

Brazil: Investors have started legal action over in Cimento Tupi’s defaulted debts and attempts to merge with its parent company Cimento Santo Estevão. The cement producer defaulted in mid-2018 on payments to foreign investors that hold around US$30m in it, according to the Valor Econômico newspaper. It also stopped paying interest on the debts in 2015.

Other creditors are also working to stop Cimento Tupi’s plans to merge with Cimento Santo Estevão because it would raise the company’s debts rather than cut costs. A court in Rio de Janerio rejected one case although others are on-going elsewhere. Separately, the Agricultural Bank of China is also challenging the cement producer over arrears in a loan worth US$18m.

Cimento Tupi operates one integrated plant at Pedra do Sino in Minas Gerais and a grinding plant in Modi das Cruzes in São Paulo. It has a combined cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr but it has been producing half of this since around 2015. Its operating revenue remained stable at US$43m for the first nine months of 2018. However, its loss more than trippled year-on-year to US$76m.

Nigeria: The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) has successfully merged with Kalambaina Cement. Abdul Samad Rabiu, the chairman of CCNN, said that the merger would boost efficiency, productivity, output and the financial returns of the company, according to the Eagle newspaper. The merger plans were publicly announced in mid-2018.

Nigeria: The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) says it has received formal approval from the Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal High Court for its merger with Kalambaina Cement. It added that the scheme of the merger was effective from 24 December 2018. New CCNN shares have been issued to and allotted to Kalambaina Cement’s shareholders at an agreed ratio.

India: Dalmia Bharat’s sales rose but its earnings and profit fell in the half-year to the end of September 2018. Its income increased by 10% year-on-year to US$625m from US$570m and its sales volumes grew by 13% to 8.6Mt from 7.6Mt. However, earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by 8% to US$126m from US$138m and its profit after tax dropped by over a third to US$7.7m from US$12m.

The cement producer said it had reduced its logistic costs despite an increase in diesel prices. It also reported that its alternative fuels co-processing rate was 5.5% in the second quarter of its 2019 financial year with the company focused on raising this. The board of director also announced that the amalgamation with Odisha Cement had been completed.