Karachi - Bestway Cement Limited (Bestway Cement), a subsidiary of Bestway Group (Bestway) has announced assumption of management control of Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited. This follows the company’s successful bid for 75.86pc of Lafarge Pakistan’s shares for an enterprise value of $329 million in July 2014. Bestway Cement also acquired other 12.07pc shares of the target company through the public offer process taking its shareholding in Lafarge Pakistan to 87.93pc.
Acquisition of Lafarge Pakistan’s 2.5 million tonnes per annum (“TPA”) cement plant located in Chakwal, means that Bestway Cement has now become the largest cement manufacturer in Pakistan with a total capacity of more than 8 million TPA representing 18pc of the entire industry’s capacity in the country.
Zameer Choudrey, Bestway Group’s Chief Executive and CEO of Bestway Cement, in his address to a large gathering of staff, various stakeholders and dignitaries at a prestigious ceremony to celebrate the occasion said that taking over of Lafarge Pakistan was a momentous occasion and a major milestone for Bestway Group. He extended warm welcome to the staff of Lafarge Pakistan into Bestway family.
He expressed his commitment to further developing the acquired company into a role model for cement industry to follow and stated that Bestway intended to invest nearly $30 million in the acquired company including, among other things, an environmentally friendly waste heat recovery power plant.