Cement-maker Eagle Cement Corp. is taking over affiliate limestone quarrying firm Solid North Mineral Corp. (SNMC) in a P3.57-billion deal that will consolidate its most crucial raw material supply chain.
Eagle disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday that its board has approved the purchase of 100 percent of SNMC, which is majority-owned by its chair Ramon S. Ang.
The tag price represents 7.19 percent of Eagle’s total assets of P49.66 billion, based on 2020 audited financial statements.
“The acquisition is a strategic move by the corporation to ensure sustainable supply of raw materials for its operations,” the disclosure said.
SNMC is among Eagle’s existing suppliers of shale, pozzolan and limestone, which is the primary raw material used in cement manufacturing. SNMC holds several mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) issued by the Philippine government through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.
“The MPSAs of SNMC are strategically located and are adjacent to the corporation’s plant and MPSAs in Bulacan,” Eagle said.
The cement company, which is currently valued by the stock market at P72.4 billion, has the single largest integrated plant production capacity in terms of cement output in the Philippines through its primary cement production facility located in San Ildefonso, Bulacan.
The facility, which is adjacent to the quarrying sites and SNMC’s limestone pulverizing plant, has three integrated production lines with a combined capacity of 7.1 million tons or 180 million cement bags per annum. This is inclusive of 12 millions bags of cement per annum produced by its grinding and packaging facility in Limay, Bataan.
Eagle believes that its competitive strength was founded on its end-to-end production strategy, which seamlessly integrates critical raw material sourcing with modern manufacturing technology.
To ensure that the “buyer” and “seller” act independently of each other, Eagle has mandated BPI Capital Corp. to conduct valuation services and prepare a report on the subject asset.