Suez Cement has sold its 51% stake in Kuwait’s Hilal Cement for EGP 155.8 mn, the company said in a disclosure (pdf) to the EGX, offloading some 51.7 mn shares at KWD 0.058 apiece, the EGX-listed company said. Hilal later confirmed that Suez Cement’s representatives had resigned from the board.

A product of the cement crisis: Suez Cement had been a majority shareholder in the Kuwaiti firm since 2007 but tumult in the Egyptian cement industry forced it to announce last March that it was looking to sell up. The oversupply crisis that has been plaguing the sector for years resulted in the company’s Tourah plant shutting down production in 2019, contributing to a EGP 1.2 bn loss.

Meanwhile, Suez subsidiary Tourah Cement has bought back more than 3 mn shares worth a combined EGP 22.5 mn from its shareholders, the company said in a disclosure to the EGX. The share buyback comes as part of the mandatory tender offer Suez launched for Tourah last year after Suez’s German parent company, HeidelbergCement, lodged an MTO to acquire 100% of Suez.

Heidelberg Cement will now take Suez private: Both Suez and Tourah announced plans to delist their shares on the EGX in December following the completion of the MTOs.

OTHER M&A NEWS-

Speed Medical completed its purchase of Misr Laboratories’ Beni Suef branches yesterday after signing the final contracts, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). The company is also preparing to sign the final agreements to buy 100% of Al Hayat Labs and 50% of City Lab, according to the statement. Speed previously said it planned to acquire 100% of City Lab.

Not moving ahead: Speed’s plan to establish a healthcare facilities management company, it announced in a separate disclosure (pdf). The company said it was scrapping the plan so as not to create conflict with Saudi Healthcare player Ela, with whom it signed an MoU signed last month to establish medical facilities in North Africa.

Raya Electronics, Distribution acquire i2 and Saudi’s URC: Raya Electronics and Raya Distribution acquired 99.95% of Itsalat International Egypt (i2) at EGP 106.8 per share. The Raya Holdings subsidiaries will also repay a shareholder loan worth EGP 78 mn as part of the acquisition agreement. The duo also acquired 100% of the Saudi-based United Retail Company (URC) at EGP 350 per share, the parent company said in a disclosure (pdf).

Advisors: Elite Consultancy House acted as financial advisor and conducted the fair value assessment of i2 and URC.