ARM Cement Limited, formerly Athi River Mining Limited, but commonly referred to as ARM is a

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

company in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, the largest economy in the

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burundi, ...

. The company is headquartered in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

and its stock is listed on the

Nairobi Stock Exchange The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was established in 1954 as the Nairobi Stock Exchange, based in Nairobi the capital of Kenya. It was a voluntary association of stockbrokers in the European community registered under the Societies Act in ...

Overview

ARM Cement is one of the largest manufactures of cement in Eastern Africa, accounting for 2.6 metric tonnes annually in 2014. ARM has operations in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Products manufactured include

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

, fertilizers,

quicklime Calcium oxide (CaO), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term "''lime''" connotes calcium-containing inorganic ma ...

, hydrated lime,

sodium silicate Sodium silicate is a generic name for chemical compounds with the formula or ·, such as sodium metasilicate , sodium orthosilicate , and sodium pyrosilicate . The anions are often polymeric. These compounds are generally colorless transparent ...

and other

industrial minerals Industrial resources (minerals) are geological materials which are mined for their commercial value, which are not fuel (fuel minerals or mineral fuels) and are not sources of metals (metallic minerals) but are used in the industries based on th ...

. A new factory planned in

Kitui Kitui is a town and capital of Kitui County in Kenya, 180 kilometres east of Nairobi and 105 kilometres east of Machakos. it covers an area approximately 30,496.4 km squares and lies between latitudes 0°10 South and 3°0 South and longitudes ...

, Kenya, is expected online in three to four years and will cost an estimated US$400 million to construct. Once operational, Kitui will increase ARM Cement Limited's production capacity to 5 million tonnes annually. As of December 2013, the company's total assets were valued at US$340 million (KES:29.7 billion), with shareholders' equity of about US$94 million (KES:8.223 billion). Currently the Kenyan Operations Taken over by National Cement Kenya (Simba cement) and the Tanzanian Operations by Huaxin Cement a chinese firm.

History

ARM was founded in 1974 by the late Harjivandas J. Paunrana as a producer of agricultural lime. His son, Pradeep Paunrana, is the current

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the company. In Kenya, the company has factories in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

and

Athi River Athi River is a town outside Nairobi, Kenya in Machakos County. The town is named after the Athi River, which passes through. It is also known as Mavoko. Athi River hosts the Mavoko Municipal Council and is the headquarters of Mavoko division, ...

, where their first cement factory was established in 1994. Cement production at Athi River commenced in 1996.

Shareholding

, the major shareholders in the company

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

are as displayed in the table below:

Company divisions

The company is divided into the following divisions: ;Cement The company brand, "Rhino Cement" is manufactured in Kaloleni and

in Kenya, and at company owned factories in

Tanga Tanga may refer to: Places Burkina Faso * , a town in eastern Burkina Faso * Tanga, Sidéradougou, a village in western Burkina Faso * Tanga-Pela, a village in northern-central Burkina Faso Other places * Tanga, Tanzania, a city and port on th ...

and

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

. ARM Cement maintains shareholding in Kigali Cement Company, a cement company in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and in a

n cement company. ; Mineral and Chemicals The division is responsible for the manufacture of "Special Building Products, Sodium Silicate and Industrial Minerals. ; Fertilizers This division produces fertilizer at the Athi River factory, under the brand "Mavuno Fertilizer". ; Rhino Foundation Established in 2010, to invest in the communities where ARM Cement has a presence.

Financial distress

According to

The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national '' Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' is circulated in Kenya and the other countries of the African Great Lakes T ...

newspaper, ARM Cement was placed into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

in 2018, due to its inability to service its debts and meet its day-to-day financial obligations. ''George Weru'' and ''Muniu Thoithi'' of

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

were appointed as joint administrators. The

suspended the trading of the company

, on 8 May 2020. After the sale of some of the company assets in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa, the joint administrators recommended the liquidation of the company, because the company assets could not fetch a price to match the amount owed to secured and unsecured creditors, in addition to shareholders. The liquidation process is expected to start on 30 September 2021. At the time ARM went into "receivership" on 18 August 2018, its total debt burden was approximately US$284 million.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

ARM Cement Limited Website
Companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange Machakos County Mining companies of Kenya Manufacturing companies based in Nairobi Manufacturing companies established in 1974 Cement companies of Kenya Non-renewable resource companies established in 1974 Kenyan companies established in 1974