PPC sells Harare's 418-hectare Arlington Estate for $27m
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Cement producer PPC has disposed of the 418-hectare Arlington Estate in Harare for $27m, generating $21.4m in net proceeds as it sheds non-core property.
Cement producer PPC, through its Zimbabwe unit, has disposed of a 418-hectare property known as Arlington Estate in Harare for $27m, the second attempt to sell the asset after an earlier deal fell through this year.
The vacant property does not contain limestone deposits and PPC Zimbabwe has no commercial use for it in its core cement-producing business, the company said on Tuesday. PPC has been disposing of non-core assets as part of a turnaround strategy.
The property was sold for a gross cash consideration of $27m, generating net proceeds of $21.4m after transaction-related costs and taxes. PPC Zimbabwe subsequently declared and paid a dividend of $21.4m, of which PPC's 88% share amounted to $17.9m, or about R296.4m at the prevailing exchange rate. The purchaser is a privately held Zimbabwean company associated with property holdings in the country.
An earlier attempt to sell the estate failed when the buyer, Transvaal Africa, did not pay the $30m price by an agreed deadline at the end of June. PPC Zimbabwe bought the property in 1990 but regained ownership only in December 2024, after it was seized by the Zimbabwean government in 2010.
PPC is due to release its first-half results on November 16. It said in a recent update that earnings rose 40% in the five months to end-August, with the ebitda margin strengthening 6.2 percentage points to 22.1%, helped by a strong operational performance from its Zimbabwean cement business.