HK Stock Market Move | In the morning session, WESTCHINACEMENT (02233) rose more than 6%. The company recently acquired over 90% of CILU's shares, continuing to advance its layout in the African cement market.

WESTCHINACEMENT (02233) rose by over 6% in the morning session, and as of the time of writing, it was up by 5.3% at 1.59 Hong Kong dollars, with a turnover of 49.4631 million Hong Kong dollars. In terms of news, on January 27, WESTCHINACEMENT announced that it planned to acquire 91.02% of CILU for $3.7 million. CILU's main business is operating a comprehensive cement plant in Lukala, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as producing and distributing cement, cement clinker, and lime powder. According to Tianfeng's research report, the enterprise value of CILU is $120 million, the EBITDA for 2023 is $14.7 million, the designed cement production capacity is 1.2 million tons per year, and the EV/EBITDA is 8.2x. HAITONG INT'L previously pointed out that the cement market in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow at a compound rate of around 4% between 2023 and 2028. As the population in Africa continues to grow and urbanization rates increase, there is expected to be continuous intensification of infrastructure construction, providing a broad demand growth space for the African cement market. With growing demand in Africa and relatively underdeveloped cement industry, it is the new infrastructure blue ocean that Chinese cement enterprises are seeking. It is optimistic about the prospects for Chinese cement companies to go to Africa and suggests paying attention to cement companies actively expanding into Africa.