Firms interested in buying out troubled ARM Cement have until the end of this month to make final offers to the company’s administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
A new report sent by the administrators to ARM’s creditors has provided additional information on the status of the plans to sell the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm to a strategic investor.
“The deadline for submission of binding offers is February 28, 2019,” PwC said in the report seen by Business Daily.
“We will keep you posted on the status of the transaction going forward as we progress our efforts aimed at reaching a suitable solution for the company’s challenges.”
Non-disclosure agreements
PwC says 25 companies expressed their interest in taking over ARM, with 23 of these firms signing non-disclosure agreements which allowed them to receive additional information about the cement manufacturer.
“Further to the above, in mid-December, we received a total of fourteen (14) non-binding offers (NBOs) from various interested parties,” PwC said.
Due diligence
“We reviewed these NBOs and shortlisted a number of parties whose offers best suited the objectives of the envisaged transaction to proceed to the next round of conducting their due diligence, with a view to submitting binding offers.”
Ahead of making binding offers, the shortlisted potential acquirers are currently interviewing the company’s management teams and visiting its various cement plants.
PwC says it cannot offer more detailed information, adding that it is keen on safeguarding the integrity of the transaction process.
While the administrators did not name the shortlisted companies, they are believed to include Nigeria’s Dangote Cement and Oman’s Raysut–which went public with its Sh10.2 billion buyout offer.