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The East African Portland Cement Company has denied Press reports that it planned to merge with Bamburi Cement.
Mr Benson Ndeta, Portland’s board chairman, dismissed a recent article in a regional newspaper suggesting that the two companies were discussing the possibility of coming together to form a regional conglomerate.
"I would wish to clarify that the story only represented the views of the authors and did not originate from our quarters," he said, but reiterated that Portland would continue to embrace partnerships and synergies at the industry level in the event of cement shortages.
This, he added, was to ensure the country’s march to the economic powerhouse status as envisaged in Vision 2030 is not curtailed.
Mr Ndeta was speaking during a ceremony to break the ground for Cement Mill No. 5, which Portland plans to install within a year to double its milling capacity.
Trade Minister Mukhisa Kituyi, who was the chief guest, remained non-committal on whether a merger proposal had been handed to the Government for approval. He explained that he was not at liberty to talk about proposals before the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
He, however, hinted that a number of proposals had been forwarded to CMA, including reduction of the stake in Portland held by French cement giant Lafarge (also a Bamburi shareholder), a merger of all three local cement manufacturers and others.
Portland, Bamburi and Athi River Mining are the country’s only cement makers.
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