Targets $350m growth in balance sheet, 18MT capacity by 2017
HAVING secured approval from its shareholders and regulators, Lafarge Africa Plc, Monday announced the completion of its consolidation exercise involving the combination of all its Nigerian and South African assets.
According to the company, the consolidated entity is expected to drive its growth and development plans in the continent, with emphasis on its ongoing expansion projects.
By this completion action, a Mandatory Tender Offer will be open to minority shareholders of AshakaCem to give them the opportunity to swap their AshakaCem shares for Lafarge Africa shares.
The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa Plc Guillaume Roux, while announcing the company’s plans in Lagos, yesterday, said the creation of Lafarge Africa allows the company to continue in its drive to be the best in the areas in which it operates.
He explained that the objective of Lafarge Africa is to consolidate its business for growth with a target of $350 million in balance sheet and an installed capacity of about 18 million metric tonnes by 2017.
To him, the broader geographic coverage means that Lafarge Africa will be better positioned to serve its customers more widely, while placing the company in a stronger position to be able to benefit from the economic growth and development opportunities available in both Nigeria and South Africa.
“We are announcing the completion of a transaction that was initiated in June this year. Both the shareholders and regulatory authorities have approved the transaction. With the completion of this transaction, we can focus more on our products and services by bringing great solutions to our consumers.
“The achievement of this transaction was made possible through the support of our various stakeholders in these markets who have been supportive of this vision. We are now better positioned for the acceleration of the growth and development of our business, with a renewed focus on serving our customers and delivering value through provision of new products and services.
“We believe strongly in the industrialization of the nation and we hope to intensify efforts towards this with new product offerings and innovations as well as increased market presence locally and within the continent”, Roux added.
He explained that the completion of the deal already makes the company the 6th largest Nigeria Stock Exchange listed company, with an anticipated initial market capitalisation above $3 billion.
Commenting on the completion, Chairman, Lafarge Africa, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye said: “Lafarge Africa enters an exciting new chapter, today. We thank our shareholders for their overwhelming support and the Nigerian regulators whose approval has gotten us to the completion of this landmark transaction. I am confident that Lafarge Africa Plc will go from stride to stride to continue to be the backbone of building better cities in Africa”
Specifically, Lafarge Africa now has a combined production capacity of around 12million metric tonnes comprising Lafarge WAPCO (4.5m MT), Lafarge South Africa Holdings (3.6m MT), United Cement Company of Nigeria (2.5m MT), Ashaka Cement (1m MT) and Atlas Cement Company – an import operation with bagging capacity of 0.5m MT.
With other projects underway to expand on this capacity, Lafarge Africa Plc is envisaging an installed cement capacity of about 18million metric tonnes.
Indeed, the inclusion of South Africa also provides operations in aggregates and fly ash.
Under the deal, Lafarge Group had transferred its direct and indirect shareholdings in Lafarge South Africa Holdings (Pty) Limited (100 per cent - representing 72.4 per cent of underlying companies in South Africa), United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited (35 per cent), Ashakacem Plc (58.61 per cent) and Atlas Cement Company Limited (100 per cent) to Lafarge Wapco.
The transaction was concluded through a cash consideration of US$200m and the issuance of 1,402,575,984 Lafarge Africa shares to Lafarge Group. The total transaction is valued at approximately US$1.35 billion.
No comments:
Post a Comment