TURKEY: CRH, Eren Said to Hire JPMorgan to Sell Turkey Cement Unit

CRH Plc (CRH), Ireland’s biggest cement company, and its Turkish partner Eren Holding AS have hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) to help sell their cement joint venture in Turkey, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Companies including Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS (SAHOL), Limak Holding AS and Oyak Cement Group are interested in the unit, in which CRH holds a 50 percent stake with Istanbul-based Eren owning the rest, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are confidential.

The three potential bidders are among those shortlisted and the sale process for the unit, known as Denizli Cimento Sanayii TAS, could be finalized by October, one of the people said.

About 20 domestic and international cement producers, including Italcementi SpA (IT), operate in Turkey, where cement makers have a total annual capacity of about 107 million tons, according to the local Cement Producers’ Association. The country, which has a gross domestic product of about $820 billion, is seeking to become one of the largest 10 economies in the world by 2023, and has planned $100 billion of infrastructure projects in the next four years, including a new bridge across the Bosphorus strait.

Representatives of Sabanci Holding and Eren Holding didn’t respond to e-mailed questions and calls seeking comment. Representatives of CRH, JPMorgan, Oyak, Denizli and Limak Holding declined to comment.

Denizli Output

Denizli, in which CRH bought a 50 percent stake from Eren Holding in 2007, produces about 3 percent of Turkey’s and 31 percent of western Turkey’s total clinker output, according to its website. The company is aiming to increase its sales to 250 million liras ($116 million) this year from 220 million liras in 2013, according to an e-mailed statement.

Oyak Group’s cement units include Mardin Cimento Sanayii & Ticaret AS, Unye Cimento Sanayii & Ticaret AS, Bolu Cimento Sanayii AS and Aslan Cimento AS.

Sabanci’s Cimsa Cimento agreed to buy Sancim Bilecik Cimento, a cement producer in western Turkey, from Sonmez Group for $220.7 million, it said in a public filing last month.