PIC raises its stake in PPC to more than 15%

THE Public Investment Corporation (PIC) had increased its investment in listed cement and lime producer PPC to 15.165 percent, the cement and lime producer reported yesterday. The PIC confirmed in December when the AfriSam Group made a non-binding proposal of a merger with PPC that the corporation held 12.57 percent of PPC and 66 percent of AfriSam. Talks between the two cement producers were halted in March when they were unable to reach consensus on the terms of the proposed merger. Bloomberg said on March 17 that PPC was the country’s worst performing stock this year, with its shares then at R17.44 trading almost 47 percent lower than the R32.50 a share prior to the announcement on September 22 of former chief executive Ketso Gordhan’s resignation. PPC’s market capitalisation was R20 billion when Gordhan resigned and according to Bloomberg was at R10.497bn at 2.30pm yesterday. Shares in PPC rose 2.77 percent to R17.78 yesterday. – Roy Cokayne