Troubled cement manufacturer Khaya Cement Limited (KCL) is seeking shareholder approval ahead of plans to delist from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).

Formerly known as Lafarge before being bought for US$29,7 million in 2022, the new owner Fossil was hoping to take advantage of strong cement demand from Zimbabwe's construction sector.

Two years after buying the country's second biggest cement producer, KCL is now deep in crisis and going into voluntary business rescue.

Fossil bought the company from Holcim, as part of the French company's global selloff. The entity is embroiled in a series of old debts, plant breakdowns, management inefficiency, and the impact of US sanctions has left the company on the brink.

In a circular to shareholders issued this week, KCL now seeks shareholders' approval as part of the rescue efforts to resuscitate the company.

"The Corporate Rescue Practitioner is proposing terminating the company's listing from the ZSE. The decision comes after the Board of Directors voluntarily placed the Company under corporate rescue on the 24th of December 2024, in accordance with the provisions of the Insolvency Act [Chapter 6:07].

"To this end, Mr. Bulisa Mbano of Grant Thornton (Zimbabwe) was subsequently appointed as the Corporate Rescue Practitioner of the Company. The delisting decision follows careful consideration by the Corporate Rescue Practitioner in consultation with financial advisors and has been determined to be in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders," says the Circular in part.

The company said the decision has been taken to facilitate the resuscitation of the company by developing and implementing a rescue plan aimed at restructuring its affairs, business, property, debt, and other liabilities.

The move is expected to stabilise the company based on the understanding that delisting is a strategic step to ensure long-term recovery, regulatory compliance and allowing the company to focus on critical restructuring tasks without public market scrutiny.