Nigeria-based cement company, Dangote Cement, has dropped out of the competition for South African rival, PPC.
With Dangote’s withdrawal, two parties remain interested in PPC: Afrisam and an unnamed third party.
Afrisam’s offer is backed by Canadian investment company, Fairfax Africa Investments Proprietary Ltd, a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings. Under the terms of the offer, Fairfax would take a ZAR2 billion stake in PPC, as well as providing a ZAR4 billion cash injection into Afrisam, on condition that the two companies merge.
There is also an “ongoing engagement regarding a credible indicative proposal for a potential pan-African combination with PPC,” the South African company said in a release to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Established in 1892, PPC is a leading suppler of cement in southern Africa. It operated 11 cement plants in South Africa, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.