Seruji buys 60pc stake in Savanna Cement

Savannah Cement Managing Director Ronald Ndegwa.   PHOTO ; STANDARD

Kenya: Seruji Ltd has bought a controlling stake in Savannah Cement. The move has seen the ownership of the newest cement maker transferred to Kenyan owners.

According to a Gazette notice dated March 27, 2015, the Competition Authority of Kenya has approved the proposed acquisition of 60 per cent of the shareholding of Savannah Cement Ltd by Seruji Ltd.

Details of the deal, which was hatched at the end of last year, remain scanty. Both parties remained tight-lipped on the exact figures of the transaction.

Chinese investors

Seruji Ltd spokesperson Alfred Ng’ang’a said the company has acquired the stake previously held by the pioneer Chinese investors of Savannah Cement. “Seruji Ltd has made a 60 per cent acquisition of the shares previously held by Savannah Cement’s international investors, for a publicly undisclosed consideration,” he stated.

“The former investors at Savannah Cement were Ms Acme Wanji who held a 20 per cent stake and Ms Wanho International Holdings Ltd, which held a 40 per cent stake, alongside the locally owned, Savannah Heights Consortium, which holds a 40 per cent equity stake.”

Mr Ng’ang’a observed that the acquisition of a 60 per cent stake by Seruji Ltd makes Savannah Cement the first Kenyan-owned cement manufacturing firm owned jointly by Seruji Ltd and Savannah Cement.

The ongoing mega-construction projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway, the second port of Mombasa, the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia corridor project and several other road and commercial development projects, have presented lucrative opportunities for cement manufacturers and stoked intense competition.

Savannah Cement recently announced that it is set to invest more than $250million (Sh23 billion) in the installation of its second high efficiency milling and clinker plant to meet growing demand for its products.

The new milling plant will be installed at the firm’s manufacturing complex near Kitengela town, allowing it to operate a fully integrated cement manufacturing business.

The firm has also expressed optimism over the planned securing of a commercial production approval for its latest innovation, the Savannah Hydraulic Road Binder product.