By Dipo Olowookere
The management of Lafarge Africa Plc has announced the completion of the sale of its South African subsidiary known as Lafarge South Africa Holdings (LSAH).
The cement manufacturer divested its stake in LSAH following the approval of shareholders at the 60th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company held on Monday, July 22, 2019.
The firm, in a statement signed on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, by its General Counsel/Company Secretary, Mrs Adewunmi Alode, said the sale of its South African arm was worth $316.3 million.
However, it was emphasised that after the deal was concluded yesterday, the proceeds were used to settle the $316.3 million debt the firm owed.
“A transaction closing meeting was held on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 at which parties to the transaction exchanged documents as specified in the Share Purchase Agreement.
“The closing meeting therefore brings to a conclusion the divestment of Lafarge Africa Plc from LSAH.
“As approved by shareholders at the last Annual General Meeting, the agreed sale price of $316,289,060.55 was utilized to settle the entire principal ($293,000,000) and accrued interest to July 31, 2019 ($23,289,060.55) on the Inter Company loan owed to Caricement BV (Purchaser),” the statement said.
It further stressed that, “With this set-off, the company does not have any foreign currency debt on its books with the only debt being the N33.6 billion corporate bond due for redemption in June 2021 and N16.0 billion on Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) intervention loans through the Bank of Industry.”
Adedapo Adesanya