CRH to acquire 6.5 bn euro worth Holcim and Lafarge assets, including those in Romania

Holcim and Lafarge have started negotiations with CRH for the sale of several assets in Europe, Canada, Brazil and the Philippines as part of their proposed merger. The Irish building materials company had previously reached an agreement with Holcim and Lafarge for taking over their operations in the listed locations, transaction estimated at 6.5 billion euro, according to a press release.

"The projected transaction is a key step towards the creation of LafargeHolcim and the value offered reflects the strong quality of the selected assets. This successful outcome demonstrates the quality of the collaborative work undertaken by Holcim and Lafarge teams. With this announcement, we remain firmly on track to complete our proposed merger in the first half of 2015", commented the representatives of the future combined company, LafargeHolcim.

In Romania, CRH will acquire Lafarge's assets which include two cement plants in Medgidia and Hoghiz, and a grinding plant in Targu Jiu. The domestic operations of the French company mainly concern the production of cement and aggregates, after Etex took over the gypsum operations in late-2011.

The list of the businesses subject of this deal additionally consists of Holcim's assets in metropolitan France (except for its Altkirch cement plant and aggregates and ready-mix sites in the Haut-Rhin region), Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Canada, the United States (Holcim’s Trident cement plant (Montana) and some terminals in the Great Lakes area), and Brazil, plus Lafarge's operations in France (a grinding station in Saint-Nazaire) and on Reunion Island (except for its shareholding in Ciments de Bourbon), Germany, the United Kingdom (except for the Cauldon plant and certain associated assets), the Philippines, and Brazil.

Taken together, the assets that will be disposed generated estimated sales of 5.2 billion euro in 2014, with an estimated operating EBITDA of 744 million euro.

The divestments are subject to the completion of the merger, including a successful public exchange offering and approval by Holcim’s shareholders in the second quarter of 2015.

Holcim and Lafarge, global leaders in the building materials sector with combined turnovers of over 30 billion euro, officially announced their merger in April 2014, the closing of the transaction being expected in the first half of 2015.