Boards of Directors of Lafarge and Holcim reach agreement on revised terms for the merger project

The Boards of Directors of Holcim and Lafarge have reached an agreement on revised terms (a new exchange ratio of 9 Holcim shares for 10 Lafarge shares) for the merger of equals of the two companies, which became unsure following a statement released by Holcim's Board on March 16, 2015.

Then, Holcim's Board announced that the closing of the transaction under the old terms was not possible. At that point, Lafarge received an official letter challenging the financial terms and governance structure of the proposed merger which have been eventually amended.

The CEO of the combined group to be proposed by Lafarge and accepted by Holcim will be announced in the coming period and will start his term once the merger is completed.

Under these circumstances, the parties expect the transaction announced in April 2014 to close in July 2015.

On March 16, 2015, The merger between the two global building materials companies will result into the largest group in the cement production market. In order to comply with the European competition regulations, Lafarge and Holcim will sell part of the assets held in several markets across the globe to Ireland-based CRH, a transaction estimated at 6.5 billion euro.

Their divestment programme includes Lafarge's assets in Romania, two cement plants in Medgidia and Hoghiz, and a grinding plant in Targu Jiu, which will be taken over by the Irish building material company.