Dangote moves to acquire South African cement firm

Dangote Cement Plc on Wednesday confirmed plans to acquire the entire share capital of South Africa’s leading cement firm, PPC Limited.‎

In a notification signed by Mahmud Kazaure, the company’s secretary, which was sent to the Nigeria Stock Exchange, NSE, on Wednesday, the board of directors of Dangote Cement revealed that it had communicated its interest to acquire the PPC’s share capital to the board of directors of the South African firm.

The company, however, added that the acquisition talks are still at the preliminary stage.

“This communication is still at the preliminary stage. Further details will be published subsequently, as appropriate,” the notice read.

Dangote Cement has been on an aggressive move to expand its operations to other African countries.

Earlier in the year, the company posted a revenue of N412.7 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2017, up by 41.2 per cent from N292.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2016.

Similarly, it ended the first half with profit before tax (PBT) of N155.5 billion, with an increase of 24 per cent from N124.8 billion in 2016.