Afrimat, which provides bulk commodities, construction materials, industrial minerals and future materials and metals, has sold certain aggrregates and ready-mix plants to Saturc Proprietary.
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Afrimat announced on Wednesday that it has sold certain aggregates quarries and ready-mix concrete plants across South Africa to Saturc Proprietary for R215 million.
The JSE-listed diversified industrial materials and mining company stated in a notice that these divestments were part of the conditions imposed by the Competition Tribunal of South Africa following its acquisition of Lafarge South Africa Holdings.
Afrimat’s R1.05 billion acquisition of Lafarge South Africa was conditionally approved by the Competition Tribunal on April 10, 2024.
The company confirmed that all conditions precedent to the disposal have been fulfilled, including the approval of Saturc as the purchaser by the Competition Tribunal, as per the Lafarge merger conditions, the requisite ministerial consents under Section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002, and all other regulatory approvals and authorisations required for the disposal.
The purchase consideration of R215m comprised a R160m cash amount payable on the closing date, with the remaining R55m being deferred and payable over three years, subject to the fulfilment of certain financial and operational conditions.
Afrimat’s share price gained 0.76% to R31,71 on the JSE Wednesday morning, although it has fallen by 40.2% over the past year.
Chairperson Franscois Louw stated in the 2026 annual report that the plan is to reduce the debt-to-equity ratio from 50.2% at the last year-end to about 25% over the next two years. The purpose of this reduction is to create capacity should an additional commodity opportunity arise.
The group increased headline earnings per share to 95,8 cents in the past year to February 28, and the total dividend was up 32% to 33 cents a share.
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