Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia and Lafarge Cement Indonesia have sped up their merger process, slated to finish by the end of 2015, in a bid to increase the companies' market shares. The companies have remained under different management and targeted separate market segments despite the merger of their parent companies.
"We hope to finish the merger process by the end of 2015. As Holcim is listed on the bourse, we are still waiting for the permit from Bapepam (Capital Market Supervisory Agency) and KPPU (Business Competition Supervisory Commission)," said Holcim vice president of sales Juhans Suryantan.
The speedy merger process is part of Holcim's efforts to expand its share of the Indonesian cement market, which stood at 15% before the merger, after Semen Indonesia with 43.7% and PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa with 30%. Meanwhile, Lafarge Indonesia had a 3% market share, placing it in fifth place.
Juhans added that both product brands would stay separate after the merger. "We have not decided on the brands. We might still use our own brands for the next one or two years," he said. The brands are deemed not to overlap due to the different target markets of both companies, as Holcim has a stronger grip on Java and southern Sumatra, while Lafarge Indonesia was stronger in Aceh and northern Sumatra.
