Holcim sells stake in Siam City Cement
SWISS CEMENT maker Holcim has divested its 27.5-per-cent interest in Siam City Cement (SCCC) for 655 million Swiss francs (Bt22.3 billion), including 24.9 per cent to Jardine Matheson Group, a Hong-Kong-based conglomerate.
The remaining 2.6 per cent was purchased by “high quality” institutional investors, Holcim said yesterday.
Holcim has sold assets internationally since it concluded a US$40-billion (Bt1.3-trillion) merger with its French cement rival Lafarge last year.
It became the second-largest shareholder of SCCC, Thailand’s second-largest cement maker, after the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
After the sale, the Ratanarak group remains the largest shareholder of SCCC with a 45.4-per-cent stake, while Jardine Cycle and Carriage succeeds Holcim as the second largest shareholder.
According to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Holcim sold its SCCC shares for Bt350 apiece to Jardine Cycle and Carriage and several institutional investors at the same terms and conditions.
Jardine has no obligation to initiate any tender offer for SCCC shares, it said.
An analyst at Asia Plus Securities believes the change will not affect SCCC because the company’s core business is in Thailand and its management is under the Ratanarak group.
According to Holcim, its sale of SCCC via a private placement will result in a pre-tax gain of about 365 million Swiss francs. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. The transaction will close as per standard SET settlement rules.
SCCC is a leading construction-materials group with cement-production capacity of 14.5 million tonnes at its Saraburi plant.
With more than 4,000 employees, the cement maker recorded sales of Bt31.86 billion last year.
