New Minya Governor Tours ASEC Cement S $360m State-of-The-Art Greenfield Cement Plant

New Minya Governor, Dr. Moustafa Kamel Eissa, tours ASEC Cement s $360m state-of-the-art greenfield cement plant as it initiates cold run testing. ANCC will create a total of 1, 200 direct and indirect jobs in Upper Egypt. The new Governor of Minya, Dr. Moustafa Kamel Eissa visited ASEC Cement s $360m, 2.0 MPTA greenfield cement plant for a tour of the site and a briefing on how the plant will help create as many as 1, 200 jobs while supplying cement for the governorate s critical infrastructure projects. The Arab National Cement Company (ANCC), a subsidiary of regional cement producer ASEC Cement, is located some 220 kilometers south of Cairo in the Minya governorate. In addition to creating 400 direct and 800 indirect jobs, the plant will be the only producer of grey cement in the region giving it a strong competitive edge. "I was impressed with the progress I saw, " said Eissa. "In addition to providing much-needed employment opportunities, the high-quality Portland grey cement ANCC will produce will capitalize on the abundance of limestone in our governorate. What s more, by choosing to build and create jobs in Minya, ANCC has positioned itself to serve high-demand markets across Upper Egypt, " he added. "We are delighted to have hosted Dr. Kamel, " said ASEC Holding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Giorgio Bodo, who noted that the project will also adhere to the highest global environmental standards. "With the cold run phase of the project now in progress, we are on track to start full production in April of 2013, " he added. ANCC is backed by a $ 200m syndicated loan from a consortium of local, regional and international banks led by the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) as the mandated lead arranger and underwriter of the facility, which is split into in two tranches. Participating banks include Banque du Caire, United Bank, National Bank of Greece, Bank of Alexandria, Bank Audi and Faisal Islamic Bank. ASEC Cement, a leading regional cement group, is the largest shareholder in ANCC with a 45% stake in the project. Other shareholders in ANCC include Misr Qena Cement (13.9%), Safari Investments (30.7%), IFU/FLS (9.2%) and other shareholders (1.1%). ASEC Cement, a Portfolio Company of Citadel Capital (CCAP. CA on the Egyptian Stock Exchange), also holds a 28% stake in Misr-Qena Cement Company, a publicly traded company on the EGX (ticker: MCQE. CA). Source: uaecement