Suez Cement and its subsidiary Tourah Cement are planning to delist their shares on the EGX, after both companies’ board of directors approved the move during meetings last Wednesday, according to two separate regulatory filings (here and here — pdf). The companies will now need to seek regulatory approval to go private. This came after Suez’s German parent company, HeidelbergCement, lodged a mandatory tender offer to acquire 100% of its shares. In turn, Suez launched an MTO for Tourah Cement.

A sign of the times? The cement industry in Egypt has been suffering for years from a drawn out supply glut that has seen producers lose bns. As many as six players could be forced to exit the market by 2021, Lafarge Egypt's CEO Solomon Baumgartner Aviles said earlier this year. Tourah Cement suspended operations last year, and is currently struggling to turn move into the green. Suez Cement’s losses have also been widening in recent quarters, with sales struggling to pick up.