South Africa’s PPC Ltd has proposed merging with its nearest rival Afrisam Group, in a renewed attempt to combine the two cement giants and an effort to lead consolidation. PPC had abandoned talks with Afrisam two years ago. It said that it had revived discussions about a potential merger.
Afrisam, which is majority owned by the Public Investment Corporation Pension Fund, first proposed a merger in 2014 when PPC’s share price had been under pressure due to infighting between its Board and former Chief Executive. ‘The parties have independently concluded that current market circumstances warrant entering into formal discussions to consider the proposed merger,’ PPC said in a statement.