Cement News tagged under: Mergers and Acquisitions

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Italy: strike planned over Heidelberg/Italcementi merger

04 April 2016, Published under Cement News

A strike with national demonstration has been announced for Friday, 29 April 2016 to protest about the possible job cuts for Italcementi workers over the proposed merger with HeidelbergCement Group. The strike was announced by the national coordination of RSU group meeting in Rome. Opponents claim that there is the possibility of up to 2300 jobs in Italy being at risk if the merger is completed. "It's been months but, unfortunately, we have no news from the government about what is happeni...

India: UltraTech confirms US$2.4bn purchase of Jaypee assets

01 April 2016, Published under Cement News

UltraTech Cement has reached a definitive agreement in its deal to buy 21.2Mta of production capacity from Jaiprakash Associates (JAL) at a cost of INR159bn (US$2.4bn).  India's Telegraph newspaper reports that UltratTech will acquire existing plants with a capacity of 17.2Mta as well as a 4Mta grinding unit currently under construction.  Originally, the sale was to include Jaypee’s 1.2Mta Shahabad plant, but this will now be retained by JAL, which will still have 10.6Mta of production...

India: UltraTech purchase of 22.4Mta capacity set to be announced

31 March 2016, Published under Cement News

UltraTech Cement, already India's largest cement producer, is expected to confirm its purchase of Jaiprakash Associates' cement business. A report by CNBC-TV18 states that the deal will be officially announced on 31 March. UltraTech will acquire cement plants with a capacity of 22.4Mta for INR170bn (US$2.56bn). UltraTech has been seeking to purchase assets from Jaiprakash Associates for some time. In December 2015 a deal for the Bela and Sidhi plants was suspended because a new law pre...

Russia: waiting for a thaw

29 March 2016, Published under Cement News

In the face of considerable economic headwinds, Russia’s construction industry has seen its growth decelerate as public and private investors cut back on spending. Russia’s cement demand freeze is not expected to thaw in the next few years and given recent upgrades, substantial overcapacity appears to be just around the corner. By Vitalie Iambla, PMR. A review of recent trends in Russian construction activity and the impact on the domestic cement sector In recent years the Russi...

UltraTech Cement

29 March 2016, Published under Cement News

The Indian government has agreed to amend the mines and minerals law (MMDR Act) regarding the transfer of captive mines after it impeded at least two cement industry deals in the last 12 months. The Act, passed in January 2015, does not allow the transfer of allotted rights by one company or subsidiary to another. All the limestone mines held by cement companies until the January amendment had been allotted by the government. As a result of the MMDR law, UltraTech’s planned purchase of tw...

LafargeHolcim brands CRH purchase write-down claims "without merit"

21 March 2016, Published under Cement News

CRH is disputing the value of the assets it purchased in February last year as part of the requirement from competition regulators to allow the creation of LafargeHolcim. The EUR6.5bn price paid by CRH is now under scrutiny, according to Reuters. In its annual report, published last week, LafargeHolcim stated: " LafargeHolcim has received from CRH several notices claiming a reduction of the purchase price. LafargeHolcim is contesting those claims. "In view of the information availab...

Fitch: West China Cement's weaker operating results outweighed by Anhui Conch's takeover

18 March 2016, Published under Cement News

Fitch Ratings believes West China Cement Ltd's weaker operations – as reflected in the 2015 results – is outweighed by its pending takeover by Anhui Conch Cement Company Limited (Conch, A-/Stable). Fitch's Rating Watch Positive on WCC is driven by the potential further integration between Conch and WCC, which will be resolved once the transaction is completed. WCC's performance in 2015 was a reflection of the weak cement market throughout the year. Its EBITDA margin narrowed to 26.6 per c...

Indian government clears proposal to amend MMDR Act

14 March 2016, Published under Cement News

The Indian government has cleared a proposal to amend the mines and minerals law (MMDR Act) to allow the transfer of captive mines granted through non-auction routes, which of late has proved to be a stumbling block for two key acquistions in the domestic cement industry. "The cabinet has approved the proposal allowing transfer of captive mines across sectors. We have received various representations from banks and associations saying the amendment will facilitate a number of mergers and ...

Dalmia Bharat to take full control of cement subsidiary

09 March 2016, Published under Cement News

Dalmia Bharat has received approval from the Competition Commission of India to acquire a 15 per cent stake in its subsidiary Dalmia Cement Bharat from private equity firm KKR. Post-acquisition, Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd (DCBL) will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Ltd (DBL). “Dalmia Bharat Ltd (DBL) signed a definitive agreement with KKR, under which it will acquire KKR's 15 per cent stake in DCBL in return of KKR getting 8.5 per cent stake in DBL as well as INR6bn [US...

Cementir given antitrust approval for Sacci deal

08 March 2016, Published under Cement News

The Italian Antitrust Authority has approved Cementir’s offer to purchase Sacci Spa's cement and ready-mix concrete business divisions. In a statement released yesterday, Cementir Holding said the Italian watchdog had published its decision not to carry out an investigation into the transaction, thus authorising subsidiary Cementir Italia to proceed with the acquisition. Sacci’s composition with creditors will be submitted to the vote of its creditors at a hearing set by the Court for ...