Egypt’s Misr Cement denies Lafarge rumours

Egypt’s Misr Qena Cement, also known as Qena Cement, has denied a report that Lafarge is considering making a US$270m takeover bid, said a spokeswoman for the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchanges. Qena informed the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchanges that the report today in the independent business weekly Al-Mal was “untrue,’’ said bourse spokeswoman

Hamdy Zenhom, general manager for investment at the National Bank of Egypt, said Lafarge was mulling the possibility of buying Qena, according to the newspaper. He said a sale to the French company would rely on approval from Egypt’s Investment Ministry as 40 per cent of Qena is owned by the state, the
newspaper reported.

If Lafarge, which already controls (along with Titan Cement of Greece) two other Egyptian cement makers, Beni Suef Cement Co. and Alexandria Portland Cement Co., were to buy Qena, it would become Egypt’s third-largest cement producer by capacity.

Egypt’s total cement production capacity rose 3.7 percent to 40.4Mta in 2005 from the previous year, according to a June research note from Cairo-based brokerage Prime Securities. It said Qena accounts for 3.5 per cent of the nation’s total cement production capacity.