Cement News tagged under: South Africa

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Fairfax drops plans to buy 23% of PPC

12 December 2017, Published under Cement News

Canada's Fairfax Africa Investments Proprietary Ltd has pulled out of its attempt to buy 23 per cent of South African cement producer PPC for ZAR2bn (US$146.34m), PPC said on Monday. "On 8 December 2017, the Independent Board received Fairfax's formal notification that it will not proceed with the partial offer and that, accordingly, the Fairfax partial offer circular will not be posted to PPC shareholders," PPC said in a statement. Fairfax offered to buy 23 per cent of PPC in September...

CRH exits PPC talks but LafargeHolcim discussions continue

07 December 2017, Published under Cement News

Irish cement producer CRH has decided to pull out of the process to bid for rival PPC, the South African company said on Thursday. Last month, CRH made an undisclosed cash bid for PPC and had been given time for due diligence and to submit an updated bid, but CRH has now opted to drop its interest in PPC. "CRH has decided not to submit an updated expression of interest and therefore considers it appropriate to withdraw from the Independent Board’s process," PPC said in a statement. In...

PPC plans Western Cape mega plant

30 November 2017, Published under Cement News

PPC is planning to build a new large-capacity plant in the Western Cape, South Africa. The company is expected to make a formal announcement about the new works next year, according to Business Report. Johan Claassen, interim CEO of PPC, said the company had decided to carry out a feasibility study on a larger-than-previously planned facility at its Riebeeck works. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the previous project had been approved, but the revised scope of the new pla...

PPC board rejects Fairfax offer

24 November 2017, Published under Cement News

The board of PPC has advised its shareholders not to accept the offer of Fairfax Africa Investment Pty Ltd to buy a stake in the South African cement producer. The company will continue talks with LafargeHolcim and CRH on the sale. The Takeover Regulation Panel has extended the deadline for the Fairfax offer to 12 December 2017, according to the cement producer’s board. Fairfax has signalled its intention to make an offer to acquire ordinary shares representing ZAR2bn (US$144.1m) of PPC’s...

PPC 1H17 earnings strong on robust Zimbabwe and Rwanda sales

23 November 2017, Published under Cement News

South Africa’s PPC Ltd reported in its inaudited 1H17 accounts a 36 per cent YoY rise in first-half earnings, supported by a strong performance in Zimbabwe and Rwanda. Headline earnings per share increased from ZAR0.14 to ZAR0.19 per share. Group revenue edged up one per cent to ZAR5.188bn from ZAR156m in the comparable year-ago period, while EBITDA advanced four per cent to ZAR1.2bn. Volumes sold increased by two per cent to around 3Mt. Net profit attributable to PPC shareholders increas...

CRH plans cash bid for PPC

14 November 2017, Published under Cement News

Ireland’s CRH has registered its interest in submitting a cash bid for South African cement producer PPC as it takes on AfriSam and LafargeHolcim. While PPC did not disclose the amount of the bid, it said it would give the Irish group time for due diligence and to submit an updated bid next week which would include a value per share for the company. "Historically, it would have been unusual for CRH to enter a bidding situation for a listed company, given management's preference for pu...

Tyres: going full circle

09 November 2017, Published under Cement News

Contributing to the circular economy, an innovative tyre-burning initiative at PPC’s De Hoek plant in the Western Cape, South Africa, has successfully demonstrated the viability of burning waste tyres as an alternative to coal in cement production. The project not only reduces coal usage and NOx emissions but also decreases landfill requirements for waste tyres, achieving a positive environmental impact. By Johan Vorster, PPC, South Africa. PPC De Hoek's location and the socio-ec...

Fund manager gains veto control over PPC

07 November 2017, Published under Cement News

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has increased its stake in PPC Ltd, South Africa, to just over 25 per cent, the threshold required to gain ‘negative control’ over the country’s largest cement producer, according to a report in Business Day. The PIC, which also controls 66 per cent of the second-largest player in South Africa, Afrisam, is now the able to block any significant transactions the PPC Ltd board seeks to pursue. Such transactions would require support from 75 per cent of s...

PPC

01 November 2017, Published under Cement News

October has seen the saga over PPC’s future continue to dominate the headlines. Last month saw AfriSam submit a merger deal, backed by Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings. However, Prudential Investment Managers, which holds a 13-14 per cent stake in PPC, opposed the merger saying that the AfriSam deal undervalued PPC and that PPC’s share price would double in the next 3-4 years as operations across Africa ramp up. Visio Capital Management, which has a seven per cent share in PPC, th...

LafargeHolcim in talks with PPC

27 October 2017, Published under Cement News

LafargeHolcim announced that it is in talks with the board of directors of PPC regarding a possible transaction in Africa. “No agreement with PPC has yet been reached and no assurance can be given at this stage that a transaction will materialise,” said the building materials producer in a brief statement.