Dubai-based Lokuwithana eyes Holcim cement stake
View(s):LafargeHolcim, which is selling its local arm Holcim Lanka, declined on Friday to provide details of negotiations with potential buyers amidst speculation that controversial Sri Lankan businessman Nandana Lokuwithana was eying the stake. “You will understand that at this stage we are not in a position to give you any further details on the divestment process, neither in terms of expected valuations nor with regard to the specific assets,” said spokesperson Iris Roth from Media Relations at Zurich-based LafargeHolcim, in response to an email query from the Business Times.
Local media reports this week said that Mr. Lokuwithana, based in Dubai and Sharjah through his Onyz Group and Nilona Holdings, had made a bid. Mr. Lokuwithana, closely connected to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was not immediately available for comment. However his interest in Holcim emerged this week when a public relations company, which said it was acting on behalf of Mr. Lokuwithana, sent an unsourced article stressing that Holcim should return to Sri Lankan hands. It was earlier known as Sanstha Cement before being acquired by Holcim in 1996.
“It is reliably learnt that two Sri Lankan entities are amongst the Chinese, Indian and Thai magnates vying for the new ownership. Both Sri Lankan players are no small fry, either. They, too, like the foreign buyers, have the wherewithal that Holcim is looking for: a clean slate in all their finances, exemplary record of their entrepreneurship and their vision and the will in taking ‘Sanstha’ into the future,” the article said without referring to Mr. Lokuwithana or his companies.