Vicat has reportedly offered to buy a controlling stake in five of Cement Industries of Malaysia Bhd’s (CIMA) eight subsidiaries. The offer was apparently made for Negri Sembilan Cement Industries Sdn Bhd, Pemasaran Simen Negara Sdn Bhd, Unipati Concrete Sdn Bhd, Cimaco Edar Sdn Bhd and Cimaco Quarry Sdn Bhd.  Should the offer be taken up, CIMA will be left with investments in properties arm Wealth Resources Sdn Bhd, investment holdings company, Perlis Paper Products Sdn Bhd and Cimaco Readymix Sdn Bhd.
 
The offer from the French company would be valid until June 1 2006, CIMA said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia.  The board of CIMA had convened yesterday to discuss the various acquisition options put forward by Vicat in its offer letter.
 
 Shares of CIMA have risen recently on news that CIMA plans to dispose of 51 per cent of its cement assets to Vicat for at least US$160m (RM594 million).  CIMA’s shares, which have almost doubled from a year ago, fell by 1 sen to close at RM2.70 yesterday with 458,600 shares changing hands.  CIMA made a net loss of RM21.7 million against RM561.1 million in revenue for the financial year ended December 31 2005.
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