Displaying items by tag: Stake

Rwanda: The Rwandan government has extended the sale of its stake in Cimerwa to 19 July 2019 to give potential investors more time. The initial deadline was 5 July 2019, according to the New Times newspaper. The government and its related shareholders own a 49% stake in the cement producer. The controlling share in the company is owned by South Africa’s PPC.

India: UltraTech Cement is in talks to buy a stake in Emami Cement for up to U$800m. Sources quoted by the Economic Times newspaper say that UltraTech Cement is working with private equity companies, including KKR and Temasek Holdings, on the potential deal. Emami Group is reportedly still deciding whether to sell its entire cement business, a stake or selected assets.

Emami Cement operates a 2.5Mt/yr integrated plant at Risda in Chhattisgarh and a 2.5Mt/yr grinding plant at Panagarh in West Bengal. It acquired a 0.6Mt/yr grinding plant at Bhabua, Bihar in September 2018. In addition, the firm has mining assets in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and near Jaipur in Rajasthan. Its main markets are in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It markets its products under the Double Bull brand.

Rwanda: The Rwandan government has started to sell its stake in Cimerwa. It holds a 16.5% stake in the cement producer via the Agaciro Development Fund, Rwanda's Sovereign Wealth Fund, according to the New Times newspaper. Other shareholders, including SORAS Group, Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), and Rwanda Investment Group (RIG), have also expressed interest in selling their shares, making a total of 49% of shares available. The government originally intended to start the sale in March 2019. Potential buyers have until 5 July 2019 to register their interest.

Cimerwa produced 0.36Mt of cement in 2018, a figure well below its production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr. However, the country imported 0.32Mt of cement in 2018 to meet local demand. The company has also made a loss in recent years. The integrated plant is run by South Africa’s PPC, which has a majority stake in the firm.

Switzerland: Thomas Schmidheiny says he has reduced his share in LafargeHolcim to 7.2% from 10.9% to diversify his investment portfolio. He said that the decision was part of his ‘retirement and heritage’ planning, according to Reuters. He has no plans to minimise his stake any further.

Schmidheiny was made honorary chairman of LafargeHolcim in 2018 when he stepped down from the board. He began his career at Holcim in 1970. He became a member of the executive committee six years later and served as chief executive officer (CEO) between 1978 and 2001. After joining the board of directors in 1978 he was chairman of the board of directors from 1984 until 2003. Later, he was a key part of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge that completed in 2015.

Colombia: Cementos Argos plans to sell its stake in Omya Andina for US$18.6m. It said it was focusing on the cement, concrete and aggregates business, according to the La República newspaper. Omya Andina is a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Omya that operates in Colombia. It produces calcium carbonate and speciality chemicals for a range of industries including construction and agriculture.

Belarus: The government has issued a directive ordering an increase in its stake in 12 large companies including Belarusian Cement. The government’s stake will be increased by amounts equal to the financial support the companies have been given, according to the Belapan news agency. The government reportedly invested around Euro70m into the companies.

India: Private equity company True North has purchased a 54% stake in Shree Digvijay for a reported US$17m from Brazil’s Votorantim Cementos. Other companies bought the rest of Votorantim’s 75% share in the business, according to Bloomberg. True North signed a deal to buy the cement producer in late 2018. Shree Digvijay operates an integrated cement plant at Jamnagr in Gujarat.

China: BBMG has agreed to sell its stake in seven cement companies to Jidong Cement for US$227m. It has also arranged with Jidong Cement to contribute nearly US$150m into BBMG Jidong Cement (Tangshan), a joint venture owned by the two companies. Both companies will also inject capital into each other’s subsidiaries. BBMG owns a 7% stake in Jidong Cement. Both agreements have been set up to resolve the issues of competing business between BBMG and Jidong Cement.

The seven companies that BBMG is selling to Jidong Cement are Zhuoquan BBMG Cement, Lingchuan BBMG Cement, Baoding Taihang Heyi Cement, Handan Shexian BBMG Cement, Qinyang BBMG Cement, Lanxian BBMG Cement and Xuanhua BBMG Cement. BBMG owns a 100% or majority stake in each of these companies.

Russia: South Ural Mining and Processing Company has purchased a 77% stake in Gornozavodsktsement in Perm region. It intends to buy the rest of the company at a later date, according to the Kommersant newspaper. The acquisition was supported by Gazprombank.

India: Private equity companies Blackstone Group and Temasek Holdings are holding separate negotiations to buy up to a 20% stake in Wonder Cement for around US$136m. The investment is expected to allow the cement producer to expand its production capacity to 11Mt/yr from 6.75Mt/yr at present, according to the Economic Times newspaper. Wonder Cement, part of the Rajasthan-headquartered RK Group, announced in August 2018 that it was preparing to set up a 2Mt/yr clinker grinding unit in Dhule, Maharashtra.