PPC says Canada’s Fairfax Africa Investments has withdrawn its firm intention to make a partial offer to acquire R2bn of ordinary shares in the cement group for R5.75 per share. SA’s largest cement maker had in late November 2017 rejected the offer by the African arm of Canadian insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings, saying it significantly undervalued PPC. This effectively sunk a joint conditional partial offer from unlisted South African cement producer AfriSam and Fairfax Africa Investments. It was conditional on a merger between PPC and AfriSam, subject to a R4bn recapitalisation of AfriSam before any merger. This means only European cement titan LafargeHolcim — which has cement assets in SA — is left among four potential contenders that had shown varying expressions of interest in merging with or buying some or all of PPC. These included Nigeria’s Dangote Cement and Ireland’s CRH, both of which pulled out recently. PPC said the independent board continued to engage with LafargeHol...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.