Baring Private Equity Asia (“Baring Asia”) today announced that it has completed a transaction alongside Glenwood Private Equity (“Glenwood”) to acquire Lafarge Halla Cement Corporation (“Halla Cement” or the “Company”). Halla Cement is one of the largest cement producers in Korea, and was previously wholly-owned by building materials producer LafargeHolcim. Baring Asia and Glenwood will acquire 100% of the Company from LafargeHolcim. Following the acquisition, the Company will be rebranded as Halla Cement to reflect its independence from the Lafarge Holcim group of companies.

Baring Asia has previous experience working with LafargeHolcim having also invested in Lafarge India in 2013.

Halla Cement is one of South Korea’s leading cement producers with around 500 employees. It operates one integrated cement plant with an annual cement capacity of 9.0 million tons, and distributes OPC, clinker, slag cement and slag powder that it sources from its extensive mineral reserves. The Company has a distribution network across the country and possesses the unique competitive advantage of owning a coastal plant with its own port facilities providing access to cost competitive coastal transportation links.

Commenting on the acquisition, Jong Goo Moon, CEO of Halla Cement, said, “We are excited to be partnering with Baring Asia on this next step in our journey. The Baring Asia team impressed us with their knowledge and experience within the cement industry, and we have confidence in their ability to support our growth in the future. The industry in Korea is seeing a period of strong demand and we expect that to continue in the medium- to long-term, so we are looking forward to capitalizing on this as an independent company.”

Korea’s consumption of cement per capita is among the highest in the world relative to its GDP per capita, and exceeded 49 million tons per annum in 2015 – the highest annual shipment volume since 2008.

Han Chul Kim, Managing Director of Baring Asia, commented: “Halla Cement is a leading cement player with operational and technical capabilities on par with global standards – something you would expect having been part of a highly respected group such as LafargeHolcim. We couldn’t imagine a more solid platform from which to access the growth opportunities in the Korean market in the coming years.”

“We couldn’t imagine a more solid platform from which to access the growth opportunities in the Korean market in the coming years.”

J.P. Morgan and White & Case advised Baring Private Equity Asia.

About Halla Cement

Halla Cement Corp. is one of the major cement players in South Korea. Its primary operations are in mining of raw materials, cement manufacturing and sales. It operates one state-of-the-art integrated plant and two slag grinding stations, together with one mixing plant. Okgye Plant, Halla’s core manufacturing facility with limestone reserves and waterfront access, has an annual cement production capacity of 6.6 million tons of clinker (equivalent to 7.6 million tons of cement) with four modern kilns. Two slag grinding stations located in Gwangyang (Jeonnam) and Pohang (KyongSang) have an annual capacity of 0.8 million tons and 1.5 million tons, respectively, and produce slag cement utilizing the slag by-products from steel mills. This contributes not only to increased cement production but also to the environment by recycling natural resources. Halla Cement also operates 10 distribution centers located at strategic positions across the country, consisting of six coastal and four in-land centers. This enables it to efficiently distribute its quality products to over 300 customers scattered nationwide via 30 sales networks. Halla Cement serves its overseas customers by exporting its products directly via its own harbor at the Okgye Plant.

For more information on Halla Cement, please visit the company’s website http://www.hallacement.co.kr/

About Baring Private Equity Asia

Baring Private Equity Asia is one of the largest and most established independent alternative asset management firms in Asia, with a total committed capital of over USD10 billion. The firm runs a pan-Asian investment program, sponsoring management buyouts and providing growth capital to companies for expansion or acquisitions, as well as a pan-Asian real estate private equity investment program. The firm has been investing in Asia since its formation in 1997 and has over 125 employees located across seven offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta and Tokyo. Baring Asia currently has over 35 portfolio companies active across Asia with a total of 150,000 employees and sales of approximately USD31 billion in 2015. The firm was recently named the 2015 Asian Private Equity Large Cap Firm of the Year by Private Equity International.

For more information, please visit www.bpeasia.com.

Media Contacts

Baring Private Equity Asia
Newgate Communications

Dan Billings
[email protected]
+852 9852 9263

Grace Zhang
[email protected]
+852 6756 1127