Asia Cement China’s owner offers to take company private in $647 million deal, ET RealEstate
BENGALURU: Asia Cement (China) Holdings Corp’s majority owner has offered to take the cement maker private, valuing it at HK$5.05 billion ($646.6 million), the companies said on Wednesday, as construction suppliers continue to grapple with China’s crisis-hit property sector.
As part of the offer, Taiwan-listed Asia Cement Corp is offering HK$3.22 for each Asia Cement China share it does not already own, a discount of 3% to the Hong Kong-based firm’s last close on May 28.
Trading in Asia Cement China shares was suspended in Hong Kong on May 28 pending an announcement on takeovers and mergers after its shares surged as much as 47%, their biggest intraday rise since November 2008.
Shares had also rallied 14% on May 27, which took the company’s market capitalisation to $666 million, but this is significantly lower than its $2.8 billion record in July 2019.
The Hong Kong-listed firm has applied to the stock exchange to resume trading from Thursday.
Asia Cement Corp currently owns 67.73% of the Hong Kong-listed unit, which posted a first-quarter loss of around 130 million yuan ($17.9 million) in April.
China is grappling with a debt-laden property market, which has affected construction suppliers in the country and has forced Beijing to announce stimulus measures to arrest the decline in the housing market.
Asia Cement China has reported a dip in its topline and bottomline in recent years, due to factors including the crisis-hit property market, the Covid-19 pandemic, rising interest rates, and fierce competition.
Taiwan-listed Asia Cement Corp is owned by Far Eastern New Century Corp, a shipping-to-telecom conglomerate.
