Cement News tagged under: South Africa
Tyres: going full circle09 November 2017, Published under Cement NewsContributing 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 PPC07 November 2017, Published under Cement NewsThe 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... |
PPC01 November 2017, Published under Cement NewsOctober 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 PPC27 October 2017, Published under Cement NewsLafargeHolcim 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. |
Workers strike at PPC Slurry18 October 2017, Published under Cement NewsThe National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said that its members of PPC Cement's Slurry plant near Mafikeng, South Africa, have embarked on a strike over wages. The NUM said that PPC must close the wage gaps that exist within the company, as it feels that the management is creating the wage gaps instead of closing them. This comes after the NUM gave PPC Cement a notice to strike on Sunday last week and workers commenced with the industrial action on Monday. The NUM demands a 12 per cent wag... |
PIC increases shareholding in PPC17 October 2017, Published under Cement NewsCement producer PPC reported on Monday, 16 October, that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) had increased its shareholding in the South African cement company, which is currently mulling bids from several parties that are vying for its shares. AfriSam, supported by Canada's Fairfax Africa Investments, made an offer in September to buy R2bn of PPC ordinary shares at ZAR5.75 a share (US$0.43). The offer includes a ZAR4bn recapitalisation of AfriSam before any merger. The PIC, which i... |
PPC is a new target for CRH13 October 2017, Published under Cement NewsCRH is among companies considering a counterbid for PPC that could trump an offer by Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings, according to Bloomberg sources. PPC’s future has been considering a merger with rival AfriSam Group failed and Toronto-based insurer Fairfax made a partial offer for ZAR2bn (US$149.5m) of PPC stock at ZAR5.75/share. PPC has a market value of ZAR11bn (€689m). Fairfax’s offer is conditional on PPC merging with AfriSam, and the South African company has appointed Invest... |
PPC merger opposition grows11 October 2017, Published under Cement NewsVisio Capital Management, which holds seven per cent of PPC shares, is the latest investment manager to object to a partial conditional offer for AfriSam-Fairfax merger. Visio Capital’s position sees at least 25 per cent of shareholders opposing the merger. Earlier this week, Value Capital Partners, which owns around five per cent of PPC stock, had rejected the offer made by Canada’s Fairfax Africa Investments saying the intrinsic value of PPC was at least ZAR10/share. Fairfax had underta... |
Prudential Investment Managers advise against AfriSam merger with PPC03 October 2017, Published under Cement NewsPrudential Investment Managers, one of the top three shareholders in PPC, says it opposes a proposed merger between South Africa's largest cement group and its unlisted South African rival AfriSam. Prudential, which holds 13-14 per cent of PPC, said it wanted "other shareholders to think twice" about such a transaction. It said AfriSam’s recent revised offer, which had the backing of Canada’s Fairfax Africa Investments, undervalued the group. It believed PPC’s share price would double in th... |
PPC raises prices and volumes29 September 2017, Published under Cement NewsSouth Africa-based cement producer PPC said it improved effective selling prices in its South African cement business and is steadily increasing output at its operations in the rest of Africa. The company saw a rise in volumes of 15 and 35 per cent in Zimbabwe and Rwanda, respectively in the five months to August, according to an investor presentation at the RMB Morgan Stanley Big Five Investor Conference in Cape Town. Effective selling prices increased by two per cent in South Africa ... |