Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG) has spent US$156 million to buy Kusto Group’s cement companies in Quang Binh Province.

SCG Cement-Building Materials Company Limited, a member of SCG, acquired 100 per cent stake in Vietnam Construction Materials Company in central Viet Nam. Enterprise value of this transaction is $440 million, including net debt and investment cost for improving acquired assets.

The production line has a capacity of 3.1 million tonnes (in Portland cement) and is the largest production base of SCG outside Thailand. The project has the potential to operate with optimum efficiency to improve the factory’s total capacity, SCG estimated. In addition, the central region is characterised by a balance between supply and demand in the cement sector.

The group also operates cement projects in Cambodia, Indonesia and Myanmar. Following this transaction in Viet Nam, SCG’s cement production in ASEAN (excluding Thailand) has increased to 10.5 million tonnes, besides the 23 million tonnes in Thailand currently.

SCG is one of the leading multinational corporations in the South East Asia region, focusing mainly on SCG Cement-Building Materials, SCG Chemicals and SCG Packaging. The corporation currently has more than 200 subsidiaries and 52,500 employees.

SCG acquired a part of Long Son Petrochemicals Complex (LSP) for $36.1 million, raising its stake in LSP from 46 per cent to 71 per cent, making it the largest shareholder last week. By the end of 2016, SCG had invested more than $800 million through a number of projects in Viet Nam. — VNS