Whale Rock Cement (Pty) Ltd, the parent company of Cheetah Cement, has filed a notice to acquire Schwenk Namibia, which holds a majority stake in Ohorongo Cement.
If successful, the transaction, filed with the Namibian Competition Commission (NCC) would give Whale Rock Cement complete control over cement production in Namibia.
The deal involves Whale Rock Cement acquiring the entire issued share capital of Schwenk Namibia from SCHWENK Zement International GmbH & Co KG. Schwenk Namibia holds a 69.83 per cent stake in Ohorongo Cement, with the remaining shares held by Industrial Corp South Africa (14.27 per cent), Development Bank of Namibia (11.73 per cent) and Development Bank of Southern Africa (4.17 per cent).
The company is not the first to attempt acquisition of Schwenk Namibia. In 2020, a proposed merger between Schwenk Namibia and West China Cement Ltd was blocked due to concerns over collusion between the market’s only two cement producers. It followed a SGD1.5bn (US$1126.87m) acquisition announcement by Singapore-listed International Cement Group that did not materialise.
