BUA’S OBU CEMENT, CCNN SET TO MERGE

In a bid to deepen the Nigerian capital market and
enhance the growth of cement industry, BUA Group, one of Africa’s largest
conglomerates, yesterday announced the consolidation of its cement business
comprising the publicly listed two million mtpa Cement Company of Northern
Nigeria Plc (CCNN) and six million mtpa Obu Cement Company Plc. The disclosure
was made in a filing to regulators.

In a statement made available to New Telegraph, BUA
also announced that its newest three million metric tonnes cement plant, the
$450million dollars Sokoto Kalambaina II plant, which it started constructing
in 2018, is scheduled for completion in 2020.

With the consolidation and addition of the Sokoto
Kalambaina II plant, this will bring BUA Cement’s total installed capacity
across all its cement holdings to 11 million MTPA.

Commenting, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Founder &
Executive Chairman of BUA Group, said that this consolidation marked the
culmination of the first phase of BUA mid-term strategic plan for its cement
businesses, which currently include four cement plants spread across Obu Cement
Company and the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria.

The new $450million Sokoto Kalambaina II Plant is
scheduled to come on stream in the second half of 2020 alongside another 48MW
power plant to complement the existing assets.

“This
consolidation will cement BUA’s position as the second largest cement producer
in Nigeria while also positioning it to take advantage of the combined
synergies to effectively serve northern and southern Nigeria based on the
strategic locations of these plants – as well as a sizeable export market.

“We intend to continue creating value for the
benefit of shareholders of the consolidated company by maintaining our focus on
outperforming the Nigerian cement industry across key indices through a
commitment to excellent products and service delivery, operational efficiency
as well as maintaining our leadership position in our home markets,” Rabiu
said.

Analysts predict that this will put BUA Cement in a stronger position to compete even better and explore export opportunities in neighbouring countries.https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/10/buas-obu-cement-ccnn-set-to-merge/