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Ireland's CRH this week submitted a binding bid for various Indian assets of LafargeHolcim that will be sold by the newly-formed group as a condition of its formation. CRH will compete for the assets with HeidelbergCement and Barings Private Equity, which sold its stake in the same assets to Lafarge India prior to the merger. According to the Irish Examiner, the scale of the bids is in the region of US$600 - 800m. On the back-burner is another deal that could see CRH snap up a 74% stake in Tongyang Cement and Energy in South Korea.

These moves are consistent with CRH's new-found commitment to rapid expansion into new markets and an apparent desire to become a far bigger player in the global cement industry. It is in line with the sentiment expressed by its CEO Albert Manifold back in February 2015, when he stated in a letter to shareholders that CRH had given 'hell or high water commitments to Lafarge and Holcim' regarding its earlier Euro6.5bn purchase of assets as part of the LafargeHolcim merger. At that point CRH appeared almost 'over committed' to the huge deal, with some analysts asking whether or not CRH had paid too much.

Let's stop a minute to look at where CRH finds itself. Europe, its main cement market, is still under siege from a general lack of investment, both private and public. The UK is likely to perform well, although an ongoing Competition Enquiry at Irish Cement is an unwelcome distraction. CRH's new eastern European ventures are all in fairly small markets. Poland, in which CRH operates Grupa Ozarow, appears to act as the model for these acquisitions, but they remain at risk from the prolonged Eurozone crisis.

In Brazil, another new market, CRH is 'up against it,' with massive competition from Votorantim and InterCement, smaller local players and LafargeHolcim. A decline in cement demand here so far in 2015 year-on-year is not a good omen. Neither is Votorantim's decision this week to turn one of its plants into a distribution centre due to continued low demand.

In Canada CRH will gain 3.1Mt/yr of former Holcim capacity, around 20% of that market's capacity. This, along with its 2.7Mt/yr acquisition in the Philippines, probably represents CRH's best opportunities out of its newly-acquired assets.

However, with the confirmation that it intends to invest in 5Mt/yr of former Lafarge assets in India, a market not exactly enjoying buoyant conditions at present, CRH appears to be further exposing itself to another 'sub-optimal' market. We recently reported on the 100Mt/yr of capacity that is sitting idle in India at present , hardly a situation to instil confidence in a new entrant.

Whether CRH will be forced to leave some of these markets, buy into others or otherwise shuffle its cement assets to better suit the world economy remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aforementioned mega-deal, LafargeHolcim gave the first indications of how it will go about re-branding in various markets this week. While a new brand will be introduced in markets with 'a balanced overlap' of former Lafarge and Holcim assets, countries without overlap will see existing Lafarge or Holcim 'brands' become 'endorsed' by LafargeHolcim. In countries with unbalanced overlap, either Lafarge or Holcim will be the endorsed brand.

Of course, in every market that it has bought a LafargeHolcim asset, CRH will also have to re-brand. So far it has announced that its operations in France will be branded as 'Orsima' from 1 August 2015. No elaboration on how this name was derived has been provided, but let's hope that there are not too many other new names to remember!

Europe: LafargeHolcim has announced its roadmap for the second half of 2015 as it has released the 2015 half-year results for Lafarge and Holcim (click on links to see separate stories).

"We continue to operate in a demanding global market environment and this has affected our first-half performance," said Eric Olsen, CEO of LafargeHolcim. "However, as a new company we have hit the ground running. A team of 200 senior leaders of LafargeHolcim met as early as last week to align on priorities, targets and initiatives to drive the integration process. It is a great team we have on board. We have launched a set of synergy acceleration activities covering areas such as capital expenditure (capex), procurement, cement industrial performance, network optimisation as well as commercial transformation. We expect to see the first tangible results in all areas by the end of 2015."

LafargeHolcim expects to deliver at least Euro93.9m in synergies, impacting earnings until the end of 2015 as part of its programme to achieve Euro1.4bn run rate synergies by the third year of operations. LafargeHolcim has also launched a review of its asset base and the planned capital expenditures for the remainder of 2015. It targets an overall reduction in capex of at least Euro18.8m until the end of 2015, compared to what both companies had planned to spend on a standalone basis. This results in capex of below Euro1.31bn for the second half of 2015. In parallel, the company has also launched a portfolio review for further optimisation.

Further, LafargeHolcim has defined capital allocation discipline as a key focus area with a view to reduce capex and maximise cash generation and returns for shareholders. As a first step, LafargeHolcim has decided on a progressive dividend policy, starting at least at Euro1.22/share for the financial year 2015, subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting in 2016. This will apply to all shares, including the new shares to be awarded to shareholders as a scrip dividend of one share per 20 shares held that was announced in March 2015. This scrip dividend is now expected to be issued on 8 September 2015.

LafargeHolcim expects net proceeds of around Euro5.63bn by the end of 2015 from divestments that will be used to reduce debt, supporting a solid financial structure. This would lead to a net debt below Euro14.1bn by the end of 2015, prior to the fair value adjustment on the Lafarge debt and a potential squeeze-out of Lafarge.

Switzerland: In the first half of 2015, Holcim generated higher cash flow from operating activities and increased net income supported by the gain from the divestment of its minority shareholding in Siam City Cement in March 2015. However, Holcim was faced with a challenging development in the first half of 2015 as lower than anticipated demand in some markets caused volume declines in cement and impacted financial performance. Positive dynamics in markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico and the Philippines were not able to compensate for these effects.

In the first half of 2015 consolidated cement volumes decreased by 2% to 67.6Mt as group regions like Asia Pacific, Europe and Africa Middle East reported declines. Like-for-like net sales across the group were almost unchanged in the first half of 2015. Net sales were down by 3.1% to Euro8.12m, as better performance in North America could not compensate for lower sales in other group regions. Operating earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for merger-related costs of Euro80.8m, fell by 3.7% to Euro1.46m. Operating EBITDA decreased by 7.8% to Euro1.38m, impacted by merger-related costs and lower financial performance in Europe and Asia Pacific. Operating profit adjusted for merger-related costs of Euro80.8m, was down by 5.5% to Euro857m. Operating profit fell by 12.3% to Euro777m, as increases in Latin America and North America were not able to compensate for merger-related costs and lower performance in Asia Pacific, Europe and Africa Middle East. Net income increased by 4.9% to Euro648m, mainly as a result of the divestment of Holcim's minority shareholding in Siam City Cement.

Holcim was again confronted with a mixed global economic environment that was influenced by moderate growth levels as well as political and economic uncertainty. Although lower oil prices influenced economic development positively in oil-importing regions, ongoing investment weakness more than offset these effects in both advanced and emerging markets. With its strong focus on prices and cost management as well as its balanced geographic footprint, Holcim was able to mitigate some of these effects. Cement volumes declined in all group regions with the exception of North America and Latin America. More cement was sold in important markets including Romania, the Philippines, Vietnam and the US. Adjusted for merger-related costs, operating EBITDA was lower, despite the positive developments in North America and Latin America. Operating profit adjusted for merger-related costs also declined. While Group companies including Aggregate Industries UK, Holcim US, Holcim Mexico and Holcim Spain reported increased like-for-like financial performance, the development in Indonesia, India, Switzerland and France was less favourable.

Holcim expects that in 2015, the global economy will continue its gradual recovery. Key construction markets of Holcim in countries like the USA, India, Mexico, Colombia, the UK and the Philippines are expected to be the main growth drivers. Europe overall should have flat development. Latin America will continue to face uncertainties in Brazil, but should overall show slight growth in 2015. The Asia Pacific region is expected to grow, although at a modest pace. Flat development is expected in Africa Middle East. Cement volumes should increase in all group regions in 2015 with the exception of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

France: Lafarge has reported mixed results for the second quarter and first half of 2015, with lower cement volumes but higher sales for both periods.

In the second quarter of 2015, cement volumes decreased by 3% due to lower export sales. On its domestic markets, Lafarge's volumes increased by 2%. Cement prices fell by 0.5% year-on-year but rose by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter. Volumes were supported by continuing positive trends in many markets such as Romania, the Philippines, Egypt and Canada, while adverse weather limited growth in the US. Some markets faced more challenging economic and/or political environments. This was notably the case in France, where the construction sector remains subdued. In Brazil, Lafarge faces a very challenging overall environment. In Iraq and Syria difficulties in transporting cement across the country have prevailed since June 2014.

Lafarge's sales grew by 5% year-on-year to Euro3.54bn in the second quarter of 2015. Exchange rates continued to be favourable with a positive impact on sales of Euro249m or 8%, while the impact of Lafarge's divestments, notably in Ecuador, Russia and Pakistan, reduced its sales by 3% or Euro75m. Its earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) improved by 1% to Euro820m, supported by favourable exchange rates with a positive impact of Euro52m or 6%. Its operating income fell by 3% year-on-year to Euro608m.

Results in the second quarter of 2015 were impacted by one-off items in connection with the creation of LafargeHolcim that was finalised on 10 July 2015. These one-off items include Euro450m of impairment on some of the assets to be divested to CRH in the third quarter of 2015. Pre-tax merger costs of Euro94m were booked in the second quarter of 2015 and one-off restructuring costs, mainly reflecting reorganisation measures in France, amounted to Euro51m, compared to Euro32m in the same period of 2014. Excluding one-off items, Lafarge's net income was Euro210m in the second quarter of 2015, down by Euro27m from the same period of 2014.

Lafarge received Euro232m in cash for divestments in the second quarter of 2015, mainly reflecting the proceeds for its operations in Pakistan. Investments totalled Euro262m. Capital expenditures remained limited at Euro82m compared to Euro67m in the second quarter of 2014. Development investments amounted to Euro180m, mainly including projects in North America (Exshaw in Canada and Ravena in the US) and in Algeria, as well as a few debottlenecking projects, notably in the Philippines.

For the first half of 2015, Lafarge has reported a 4% year-on-year reduction in cement sales to 54.7Mt, while its sales grew by 5% to Euro6.32bn. Its EBITDA grew by 6% to Euro1.22bn and its operating income grew by 8% to Euro813m.

For the entirety of 2015, Lafarge expects cement market growth of 1 - 4%. Cost inflation should continue albeit at a slower pace than in 2014, given the evolution of fuel oil prices. This should result in higher prices overall. Lafarge should also benefit from more favourable exchange rates.

Philippines: Cement sales have surged in the first six months of the year behind robust construction activities in the country, according to the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP).

CeMAP president Ernesto Ordoñez said that total cement sales rose by 11.1% to 11.9Mt in the first half of 2015 from 10.7Mt in the same period of 2014, according to The Philippine Star. Ordoñez said that construction activity remained strong in the first semester, fuelled primarily by growing business confidence in the country. "The weather was also exceptionally good in the first half of 2015. There were some rains, but generally the weather cooperated very well," said Ordoñez.

For the second quarter of 2015, cement sales grew by 12.5% year-on-year to 6.21Mt. This followed 9.6% growth in the first quarter. According to Ordoñez, growth was higher in the second quarter because the government accelerated its spending. The government, for its part, has been increasing the budget for infrastructure to address gaps and support economic growth. CeMAP is banking on the increase of construction activities in the country to support higher cement sales.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has reported a double-digit rise in revenue and earnings as its sales volumes of building materials benefited from a continued market recovery in North America and the UK, offsetting concerns about weakness in Indonesia, according to Dow Jones.

Its net profit for the second quarter of 2015, which ended on 30 June 2015, rose by 16% year-on-year to Euro271m, while its operating income before depreciation grew by 15% to Euro752m. HeidelbergCement's revenue jumped by 10% to Euro3.64bn, fed by the weak Euro and low fuel costs. Excluding currency and consolidation effects, its revenue increased 0.4%.

"The sustained recovery in our mature markets, particularly in the UK and the US, has made a significant contribution," said CEO Bernd Scheifele. However, a delayed start of infrastructure projects in Indonesia, HeidelbergCement's key market in Asia, led to a decline in sales volume in the Asia-Pacific region.

On 28 July 2015, HeidelbergCement announced plans to take a 45% stake in Italy's Italcementi for Euro1.67bn. To reflect the positive impact of the deal, HeidelbergCement raised its mid-term targets. It now aims to generate more than Euro20bn in revenue by 2019, compared with the Euro17bn it had previously forecast, alongside an operating earnings of more than Euro5bn, compared with the Euro4bn it had previously forecast. For the entirety of 2015, HeidelbergCement has confirmed its guidance of a significant increase in revenue, operating income and profit.

US: Essroc, part of Italcementi, has acquired the Holcim (US) slag cement grinding plant in Camden, New Jersey, according to MarketLine. As part of the transaction, Essroc will also obtain Holcim's cement terminal in Everett, Massachusetts, US. Upon completion of the transaction, Holcim's staff in Camden and Everett will join Essroc. The transaction is expected to be completed later in 2015. The acquisition will allow Essroc to strengthen its position in the sustainable building products market.

Germany/Italy: Germany's HeidelbergCement plans to buy rival Italcementi for Euro3.7bn as it puts its repaired balance sheet to work to follow LafargeHolcim down the path of consolidation, according to Bloomberg.

HeidelbergCement has initially bought Italmobiliare SpA's 45% stake, paying Euro10.6/share or Euro1.67bn total in stock and cash. This transaction was initiated on 28 July 2015 and is subject to approval by competition authorities. HeidelbergCement will next offer the same price for each share held by outstanding investors, once the first transaction has been cleared. The price offered for each share is 61% higher than Italcementi's closing price before the deal was announced.

The deal represents HeidelbergCement's biggest since the Euro11.2bn acquisition of Hanson in 2009. CEO Bernd Scheifele has managed to give the company more breathing space from the debt built up in that ill-timed takeover, allowing him to pursue an expansion just weeks after Holcim and Lafarge completed their industry-transforming merger of the biggest cement companies in Switzerland and France. Analysts have suggested that the Italcementi acquisition could backfire and hurt earnings.

The acquisition of Italcementi will expand HeidelbergCement's operations in Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Egypt as well as in France and Belgium, which combined represent the Bergamo, Italy-based company's biggest market. "With the market recovery gaining traction in southern Europe and the US, it is now the right time for us to accelerate our growth," said Scheifele. The deal gives HeidelbergCement the greatest boost in the Middle East and Africa, doubling its market share in that region to a similar level to Dangote Cement, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. However, it will still lag behind LafargeHolcim there.

HeidelbergCement expects annual synergies of Euro175m by 2018 from the acquisition. The deal will initially be financed through cash and fully underwritten bridge financing of Euro4.4bn by Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley. That will partially be repaid by Euro1bn in asset sales and new debt sales. As a result of the takeover, HeidelbergCement expects revenue to top Euro20bn 2020, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of more than Euro5bn. That compares with earlier goals of Euro17bn and Euro4bn respectively. HeidelbergCement's 2014 revenue was Euro12.7bn, while Italcementi generated Euro4.2bn.

India: Ambuja Cements has reported a 45% fall in its standalone net profit to US$35.4m for the first quarter of its 2016 financial year, which ended on 30 June 2015. Its total standalone income fell by 8% year-on-year to US$392m. Ambuja's board has approved the amalgamation of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Dirk India Pvt Ltd, with the company with effect from 1 April 2015. The move is now subject to the approval of shareholders, the High Court and appropriate authorities.

Thailand: Executives from 50 administrative bodies in Nakhon Ratchasima Province have discussed how to dispose of 638,060t of accumulated garbage. A report on 'proper and practical methods' for disposal of the rubbish must be sent to the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning by 30 July 2015.

The Comptroller-General's department has calculated that Nakhon Ratchasima will need US$6.19m in the 2016 fiscal year to dispose of the accumulated trash. Ranongrak Suwanchawee, president of the Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Administrative Organisation, said that officials had agreed to transport and dispose of the garbage at a TPI Polene cement plant in Saraburi Province. This meant 29,000 trips to carry the trash in trucks plus the digging and levelling of a tip. The organisation has estimated that Nakhon Ratchasima would need a budget of about US$7.33m, slightly more than the department calculated.