South African cement manufacturer Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) has entered into an agreement to purchase a controlling stake in Safika Cement Holdings for about US$35.3mn
Safika, also a South African company, has a capacity of more than 20mn bags a year.
It owns five blending facilities and one milling operation, and produces blended cement under three brands, IDM Best Build, Castle and the Spar Build-It house brand.
PPC CEO Ketso Gordhan said, “We are very excited to be able to add another complementary business to PPC. This will see us strengthening our position in the South African cement sector.”
The strategy to make presence in the home country strong was adopted by former PPC CEO Paul Stuiver, as part of a two-pronged approach involving entrenching the company’s dominance in southern Africa and expanding in the rest of Africa.
The proposed Safika transaction will be subject to approval by the regulatory authorities as well as the conclusion of the due diligence process.
