Cement Australia to be run as joint venture

HeidelbergCement and Holcim to balance respective interests in Australia’s largest cement producer

HOLCIM and HeidelbergCement have announced their intention to balance their respective interests in Cement Australia and to operate the company as a joint venture.

HeidelbergCement plan to acquire from Holcim an additional 25% of the share capital of Australia’s largest cement producer via their subsidiary Hanson Australia.

After signing the contract, HeidelbergCement and Holcim will each hold a 50% share in the joint venture.

Australia’s competition authority (ACCC) and the authority for foreign investments (FIRB) have already approved the transaction.

Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

In future, Holcim and HeidelbergCement will be equally represented on the board of directors and the chairmanship will rotate.

‘The planned increase of our stake in Cement Australia makes sense for us both from a strategic and an economic standpoint,’ commented Dr Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.

‘Due to the expected growth of the population and the continued expansion of the mining industry, Australia is a very attractive market. Cement Australia is a highly profitable company and the planned increase in our stake fulfils all our investment criteria.

‘In addition, we will double our cement capacity in the country to 2 million tonnes and strengthen the vertical integration of our building materials business there.’

Cement Australia operate two cement plants and a grinding station in the east and south-east of Australia, and in Tasmania, with a total annual cement capacity of 4.2 million tonnes.

A new grinding station in Port Kembla with an annual capacity of 1.1 million tonnes of cement will come on stream in 2013.

The company has more than 1,000 employees and recorded sales revenue of approximately A$1 billion in 2012.