PPC ends LafargeHolcim bid
Cement group rejects last remaining proposal and will focus instead on African investments and mega plants
PPC has dropped LafargeHolcim’s nonbinding proposal to buy a controlling stake in SA’s largest cement group, pushing all potential bidders off the table ahead of the holiday break. The group’s independent board said the best value for shareholders lay in prioritising its investments in the rest of Africa, executing a mega plant strategy in SA and further improving competitiveness. “It was an interesting offer. We are not averse to anything that is good for shareholders,” PPC chairman Peter Nelson said on Thursday. The group wanted firm and binding offers, and not all possible suitors wanted to be “caught up in this”, he said. Along with cement giant Dangote from Nigeria and Irish titan CRH, European mega-group LafargeHolcim’s interest in PPC is now history. PPC had earlier rejected a joint partial offer from unlisted South African cement producer AfriSam and Canada’s Fairfax insurance conglomerate. Nelson said PPC looked like “easy pickings” after recently investing heavily in its o...
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