Benjamin Steinbruch signed check for R$5.2bn to take over LafargeHolcim’s operations in Brazil

09/08/2022

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Benjamin Steinbruch — Foto: Claudio Belli/Valor

By signing a check for R$5.2 billion, businessman Benjamin Steinbruch, the main shareholder of steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), concluded on Tuesday the purchase of the cement company LafargeHolcim Brasil, unveiled one year ago. The deal was approved by CADE, the country’s antitrust watchdog, in August and was not contested within the usual period of 15 days. In dollar terms, the acquisition was closed for $1.025 billion – at the exchange rate of R$5.7 to the dollar at the time, the value was equivalent to R$5.8 billion.

In a notice of material fact, CSN said its subsidiary CSN Cimentos S.A., which concentrates the group’s cement manufacturing and sales operations, takes over 100% of the shares of LafargeHolcim (Brasil) S.A. As a result, the company acquired from the French-Swiss group Holcim is now called CSN Cimentos Brasil S.A. and becomes a wholly owned subsidiary.

Last year, Mr. Steinbruch’s cement company also acquired Paraíba-based Cimento Elizabeth for R$1.1 billion.

The acquisitions of Elizabeth and LafargeHolcim elevated CSN to the rank of Brazil’s second-largest cement producer, behind only Votorantim Cimentos and just ahead of InterCement Brasil. Total annualized production and sales of the new CSN Cimentos are estimated at 12 million tonnes – a volume to be confirmed by the end of 2023.

Holcim representatives arrived in Brazil on Monday to define the last details of the deal – and receive the check from Mr. Steinbruch’s hands. They met with him and had dinner with CSN executives, the businessman said during an event held by Valor. CSN was awarded in the Metallurgy and Steelmaking category.

“I am paying this semester, until the end of the year, R$9 billion in acquisitions,” Mr. Steinbruch said, listing the purchases of the cement company, Rio Grande do Sul-based power generation company CEEE-G, and two other companies in the sector (Energética Chapecó and Santa Ana Energética).

According to the businessman, the group has a project to invest more in power generation, with emphasis on renewable energy, such as solar. The goal is to supply the group’s own demand. The manufacture of cement is electricity intensive.

CSN already owns a thermal plant (235 MW) in the steel plant of Volta Redonda (Rio de Janeiro) and stakes in the hydroelectric plants of Itá (in the South region) and Igarapava (between Minas Gerais and São Paulo).

LafargeHolcim brings a net revenue of R$2.15 billion obtained in 2021, with an EBITDA of 64.2%, to CSN Cimentos. Ten operational units (integrated plants, mills and blending) in the states of Paraíba, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Goiás and São Paulo will be integrated by the group, with a capacity of 10.3 million tonnes a year.

After the two deals, CSN Cimentos has 13 plants in Brazil.

*By Ivo Ribeiro — São Paulo

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/