Afrimat has disposed of some of its general aggregates quarries and readymix concrete plants across South Africa, which was a condition of the Lafarge South Africa merger approval.
The multicommodity mid-tier mining company said on Wednesday the disposals related to the conditional approval of the merger stipulated by the Competition Tribunal in April 2024.
This brings the transaction, which was described when it was announced as "the deal of the century“ because it gave Afrimat access to some of the best assets in the South African construction industry, to finality.
Afrimat completed the disposal of the businesses to Saturc after concluding a sale agreement.
“All conditions precedent to the disposal have been fulfilled, including inter alia approval of Saturc as the purchaser by the Competition Commission in terms of the Lafarge merger conditions, the requisite ministerial consents under section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, and all other regulatory approvals and authorisations required for implementation of the disposal,” it said.
The disposal is accordingly effective as of June 8 and will close on July 1, the group said.
The purchase consideration amounts to R215m, R160m of which is due on the closing date, with the balance of R55m deferred and payable over three years, subject to the fulfilment of certain financial and operational conditions.
“The disposal gives full effect to Afrimat’s obligations under the tribunal approval and fulfils the divestiture conditions imposed as part of the merger approval of the Lafarge acquisition,” Afrimat said.
Business Day reported previously that Afrimat CEO Andries van Heerden had decried the length of time taken to approve the acquisition of Lafarge.
The Competition Tribunal approved Afrimat’s $6m purchase of Lafarge SA and its subsidiaries in April 2024, exactly a year after the deal was first announced.
In a letter to shareholders contained in the group’s annual report in June last year, Van Heerden said the group had successfully integrated Lafarge into its operations but delays in the deal’s approval had led to challenges that could have been avoided.
“On the cement side, because the Competition Tribunal took an unusually long time to rule on the Competition Commission’s recommendations, by the time Afrimat took over the cement operations they were in significant disrepair and the cash available at the acquisition date had diminished,” Van Heerden said.
About R185m was spent in the 2025 financial year to return the kilns to steady production. Though cement losses had steadily decreased, this had resulted in a significant loss for that financial year, he said.
For the current financial year, Afrimat’s annual earnings rose by a third as the group focused on costs and stemmed losses in the cement business.
The group’s revenue increased 20.3% to R10bn for the year to end-February, while operating profit increased 9.6% to R523.7m.
HEPS were up 32.5% to 95.8c and the group paid a total dividend of 33c per share, up 32% year on year.
“These results reflect the strength of Afrimat’s strategic positioning and our ability to deliver on our investment commitments. Our renewed focus on aggregate quarrying has proved to be well-timed, and the Lafarge integration is complete and performing exceptionally well,” Van Heerden said when releasing the 2026 financial results.
Business Day
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