National Cement has completed the acquisition of ARM’s Kenya assets by paying KSh5 billion to ARM’s administrators, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC). Henceforth, all Kenyan assets of ARM Cement belong to National Cement Company.
According to Business Daily, KCB assisted in paying the money, by contributing KSh3.5 billion of the total amount.
ARM was suspended from trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, and put under administration in August 2018 by some of its creditors. The company had KSh4.6 billion convertible debt owed to the African Finance Corporation, KSh2.5 billion in overdraft facilities owed to Stanbic Bank and KSh824 million owed to Standard Bank Limited.
Therefore National Cement signed an agreement in May 2019 to buy the company’s factories, land and mining licences in Kenya. However, the acquisition process was delayed after ARM’s former chief executive, Pradeep Paunrana, went to court to oppose the transaction.
Mr. Pradeep claimed that PwC had ignored higher bids, including KSh6.5 billion offered by a consortium which he was part of. However, the court threw out the case, claiming the offer was filed outside the offer period.
National Cement Company Limited (NCCL) is a cement manufacturer in Kenya. It is a subsidiary of the Devki Group of Companies, an industrial and manufacturing conglomerate, with headquarters in Kenya and operating subsidiaries in Kenya and Uganda.
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