Cairo, Nov. 1, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Nile City Towers - South Tower Corniche El Nil Cairo - Egypt. Phone 20-2-461-1111 Fax 20-2-461-9400 Web www.orascomci.com
OCI to Add New Cement Capacity in Pakistan
OCI finalizes negotiations to acquire majority control of Chakwal Cement Company in Pakistan
Cairo, Egypt - 1 November 2004: Orascom Construction Industries (stock symbols: OCIC.CA / ORCI EY / OCICq.L / ORSD LI) announced that it has finalized negotiations for the acquisition of a 51% stake in Chakwal Cement Company Limited (Reuters Code: CCCL.KA - listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange) (CCCL) which owns the property and equipment for a 2.2 million per year cement plant located along the Lahore - Islamabad highway in District Chakwal of the Punjab Province in Northern Pakistan. The plant is specifically located about 220 km northwest of Lahore and 80 km south of Islamabad and is expected to serve Pakistan's most populated province which boasts a population of around 90 million people. The plant equipment was supplied by the leading international equipment supplier, F.L. Smidth of Denmark, which also supplied plant equipment for OCI's subsidiary Algerian Cement Company (ACC). The plant will require a construction and assembly period of 15 months.
OCI Chief Executive Officer, Nassef Sawiris commented "this acquisition is in line with our strategy to expand our production capacity in key emerging markets. The acquisition will be at an investment cost which maintains our competitiveness and ensures a significant return to shareholders. Through CCCL, OCI will gain access to a promising cement market where per capita cement consumption is close to 90 kg compared to around 370 kg in Egypt, which indicates significant room for growth. Domestic consumption in Pakistan is expected to witness double-digit growth to reach around 15 million tons during 2004 in addition to an estimated 1.5 million tons in exports primarily to neighboring Afghanistan. This new acquisition will raise the annual production capacity of the OCI Cement Group to 15 million tons by mid 2006."
The OCI Construction Group will perform construction work on the plant. OCI has been present in Pakistan as a contractor for more than one year now constructing cell sites for mobile networks.
OCI will release further information on the acquisition as soon as it is available for official disclosure. Citigroup is serving as the financial advisor on this transaction. Citibank Pakistan is expected to arrange the project finance necessary to complete the plant construction.
OCI focuses on three high growth business activities - construction services, cement manufacturing and infrastructure concessions. Our Construction Group provides engineering, procurement and construction services on industrial, commercial, infrastructure and railway projects for public and private customers in the Middle East and North Africa. Our Cement Group owns and operates cement production plants in Egypt and Algeria. Our Concessions Group participates as an equity investor in long-term infrastructure concessions including port operations, industrial parks and natural gas distribution systems.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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