BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS
BRAZIL
Votorantim suspends
US$ 4 billion+ IPO
Brazil’s largest cement producer pulls out of
cement stock market float amid pricing concerns
V
otorantim has postponed a US$ 4 billion+ initial public offering
(IPO) of a stake in its cement business, Votorantim Cimentos, citing
concerns about pricing, new regulations and weakening market
conditions.
The listing of the unit on both the Bolsa de Valores in São Paulo, Brazil and
the New York Stock Exchange has been suspended after bids came in below
the planned BRL 16.00 to BRL 19.00 (US$ 7.80 to US$ 9.26) per share
price range.
Other factors weighing on the IPO included a general stock-market
deterioration amid a slow-down in Brazil’s economic growth and a proposed
new regulation in Brazil that could see royalties on mining and quarrying
increased from 2% to 4% of total revenues, which Votorantim said would
affect its business.
Votorantim Cimentos had revenues of BRL 9.48 billion (US$ 4.71 billion)
last year and net profits of BRL 1.64 billion (US$ 815 million).
AUSTRIA
Alpine collapse
Contractor Alpine Bau has gone
into voluntary insolvency with net
debts of € 625 million (US$ 815
million). It said the decision was a
result of delays in a programme of
divestments and the deterioration in
the its trading position since the first
quarter of 2012.
Alpine is majority-owned by
Spain’s FCC, The parent company
has made a € 289 million (US$
375 million) provision in its 2013
accounts for Alpine’s insolvency.
SOUTH AFRICA
Asset sale
Contractor Murray & Roberts has
sold the majority of its construction
products businesses for ZAR 1.33
billion (US$ 132 million). Asphalt
producer Much Asphalt was
bought by private equity company
Capitalworks, while Ocon Brick,
Technicrete and Rocla, which make
bricks and concrete products, were
sold to a private equity consortium
that included Capitalworks. Murray
& Robertsis still looking for a buyer
for Hall Longmore, which makes
steel pipes.
FRANCE
Services sale
Spie is to acquire Hochtief’s Service
Solutions business for € 250 million
(US$ 326 million). Spie beat
several rival offers for the business,
including a bid from YIT. The
transaction is due to close at the end
of this year, and will be retroactively
effective from 1 January 2013.
QATAR
Metro contracts
A consortium comprising Porr, SBG
and HBK won a € 1.89 billion (US$
2.45 billion) contract to build the
16.6 km Green Line of the Doha
metro. Vinci leads the consortium
awarded the €1.5 billion (US$ 2
billion) contract for the 13.8 km
southern red line, and Impregilo
leads the consortium for the € 1.7
billion (US$ 2.2 billion) contract for
the 13 km northern red line.
VALUE OF 1:
SYMBOL AU$
BRL
UK£ CNY
€
INR
YEN MXN RUR SAR
ZAR KRW CHF
US$
Australian Dollar
AU$
0.48 0.665 6.36 0.789 55.6
100
12.58 32.0
3.87
9.24
1137 0.965 1.031
Brazilian Real
BRL
2.07
0.321 3.07 0.381 26.8
48.5
6.07
15.4
1.87
4.46
549 0.466 0.498
British Pound
UK£
1.50
3.12
9.6
1.19
83.6
151
18.9
48.1
5.81
13.9
1710 1.45
1.55
Chinese Yuan
CNY
0.157 0.326 0.105
0.124 8.74
15.8
1.98
5.03 0.608 1.452
179 0.152 0.162
Euro
€
1.27
2.63
0.84
8.07
70.5
127
15.9
40.6
4.90 11.71 1442 1.22
1.31
Indian Rupee
INR
0.018 0.037 0.012 0.114 0.014
1.8
0.226 0.576 0.0696 0.166 20.5 0.0174 0.0186
Japanese Yen
YEN
0.010 0.021 0.007 0.063 0.008 0.553
0.1253 0.319 0.0385 0.0920 11.3 0.0096 0.0103
Mexican Peso
MXN
0.080 0.165 0.053 0.506 0.063 4.42
7.98
2.54 0.307 0.734
90
0.077 0.0820
Russian Ruble
RUR
0.031 0.065 0.021 0.199 0.025 1.74
3.14 0.393
0.121 0.289 35.5 0.0302 0.0322
Saudi Riyal
SAR
0.259 0.536 0.172 1.645 0.204 14.373 25.973 3.253 8.275
2.39
294 0.250 0.267
South African Rand ZAR
0.108 0.224 0.072 0.689 0.085 6.016 10.871 1.362 3.463 0.419
123 0.104 0.112
South Korean Won KRW
0.0009 0.0018 0.0006 0.0056 0.0007 0.0489 0.0883 0.0111 0.0281 0.0034 0.0081
0.00085 0.0009
Swiss Franc
CHF
1.04
2.15
0.69
6.59
0.82 57.59 104.06 13.03 33.15 4.01
9.57
1178
1.068
US Dollar
US$
0.97
2.01 0.645 6.17 0.765 53.9
97.4
12.2 31.03 3.75
8.96 1102.9 0.936
For example US$ 1 = AU$ 0.97
Exchange rates: June 2013
FINLAND
Metso has announced
a demerger plan that will see the
company’s pulp, paper and power
divisions separated from its automation
and mining & construction divisions.
The mining, construction and
automation company will retain the
Metso name, while the pulp, paper and
power business will be named Valmet.
SOUTH AFRICA
Sandro Scherf, CEO
of South African aggregates processing
equipment supplier Pilot Crushtec, has
fully acquired the company through
a management buy-out (MBO). The
company supplies mobile and semi-
mobile, crushing, screening, recycling,
sand washing and material handling
equipment through a combination of
equipment it manufactures itself and
the distribution of other companies’
machines.
ITALY
Salini and Impregilo have
approved the terms of their merger,
creating a new listed company known
as Salini Impregilo that is targeting
consolidated revenues of
€
7.4 billion
(US$ 9.7 billion) by 2016. The merger
will be effective from the start of 2014.
AUSTRALIA
Lend Lease plans to
restructure its Australian operations
and has warned of reduced profits this
year. The company’s four Australian
construction businesses – Abigroup,
Baulderstone, Project Management
& Construction and Infrastructure
Services – will be merged into three,
with individual focuses on building,
engineering and infrastructure.
international
construction
july-august 2013
BUSINESS NEWS
10
NORTH AMERICA
Lafarge’s US$ 700 million gypsum sale
Cement producer Lafarge has
continued to dispose of non-core
businesses with the sale of US$ 700
million worth of gypsum plants
to an affiliate of private equity
company Lone Star Funds.
Lafarge North America’s gypsum
division manufactures gypsum
wallboards and joint compounds
throughout a network of plants in
the US and Canada. In 2012, these
operations had sales of US$ 310
million.
Lafarge said its latest round of
asset sales completed the group’s
refocusing on its core businesses –
cement, aggregates and ready-mixed
concrete. In 2011 it sold the other
parts of its global gypsum business
in three separate transactions for
total proceeds of € 1.55 billion
(US$ 2.02 billion).
