Displaying items by tag: Merger

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.

Zimbabwe: Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe, which recently merged with Holcim, is considering retaining its Lafarge brand in the country, according to All Africa.

A Lafarge spokesperson could not clearly indicate how the merger would affect the local brand, but suggested that Zimbabwe could remain with the Lafarge brand with a LafargeHolcim endorsement, in comment with the Financial Gazette's Companies and Markets,

"There will be three different approaches to the branding of the new countries. In countries with a balanced overlap, including cement operations in Bangladesh, Brazil, Morocco, Russia, Spain and the US, as well as for the trading business of the new group, LafargeHolcim will be introduced as the corporate brand, while existing Holcim and Lafarge brands on the market will remain and be complemented by the endorsement, 'a member of LafargeHolcim'," said the spokesperson. "In other countries with overlap of activities including France, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, either Lafarge or Holcim will become a corporate brand receiving the endorsement. In the countries without overlap, the existing brand will remain at all levels, also with the group endorsement." Zimbabwe has no overlap as Holcim did not have a presence in the country.

Indonesia: PT Holcim Indonesia Tbk is preparing to merge with PT Lafarge Cement Indonesia after the finalisation of the LafargeHolcim merger.

Deputy corporate secretary Andika Lukman said in statement that the new holding company has started the strategic transformation process, focusing on revenues, capital allocation, commercial transformation and integration of the new holding. "The LafargeHolcim merger could raise revenues up to US$1.53bn in three years after the merger," said Lukman.

Holcim entered Indonesia by acquiring PT Semen Cibinong Tbk shares in 2001 for US$340m in the wake of a monetary crisis. The company was found by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, younger brother of Indonesia's 2014 presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto. Semen Cibinong's name was later changed to PT Holcim Indonesia. Meanwile, Lafarge entered the Indonesian market by acquiring shares of PT Semen Andalas Indonesia, which operates cement plant in Aceh, Sumatera in 1994. Semen Andalas' name was later changed to PT Lafarge Cement Indonesia.

France: Holcim's French subsidiary will be renamed Orsima on 1 August 2015, according to Le Moniteur. The change comes at a time when the assets have been purchased by CRH as part of the LafargeHolcim merger. The businesses of Cement Orsima, Orsima Concrete and Aggregates Orsima will be used legally and commercially.

With the acquisition, CRH becomes the third-largest cement producer in France with about 15% of the market share. The assets include three cement plants (Holcim Lumbres, Héming and Rochefort-sur-Nenon), four grinding plants (Grand-Couronne, Dannes, Dunkirk and La Rochelle), a mixing station in Montoir-de-Bretagne, Loire-Atlantique and 170 concrete plants and aggregates sites (LafargeHolcim will retain eleven in Haut-Rhin Department).

Europe: Following the successful completion of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge, LafargeHolcim has today started trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich with the ticker symbol LHN and on Euronext in Paris, joining the Swiss Market Index (SMI) and the CAC 40 index (replacing Lafarge SA) respectively. LafargeHolcm had a total market capitalisation of around Euro39.4bn on 13 July 2015. Representatives of LafargeHolcim's senior management will attend the start of trading ceremony in Paris.

Europe: Holcim Ltd and Lafarge SA have completed their global merger and have launched LafargeHolcim. The merger completion was dated 10 July 2015. All conditions for the completion of the merger were fulfilled following the successful completion of the public exchange offer and the issuance of new Holcim shares to Lafarge shareholders. Holcim's shareholders had previously approved the merger-related resolutions at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 8 May 2015.

With the completion of the merger, the mandate of the new board of directors and of the new executive committee with Eric Olsen as CEO has become effective. LafargeHolcim will also unveil its new logo and corporate identity. It has been designed to demonstrate that Holcim and Lafarge have united to form one company, expressing the leadership and strength of the new group.

"Today's closing is a historic event, not only for our two founding companies, but also for the industry as a whole. LafargeHolcim has a unique business portfolio, is the industry benchmark in research and devlopment and offers its customers the widest range of innovative and value-adding products, services and solutions, from smallholders to large enterprises and most complex projects," said Wolfgang Reitzle, co-chairman (statutory chairman) of the board of directors of LafargeHolcim.

"This new company is built on the rich history and culture of Lafarge and Holcim and its teams. The merger has not only resulted in a larger and more global company but brings about a unique set of complementary capabilities to capitalize on. Under the leadership of Eric Olsen, the new Group will foster a new operating model and create more value for all our stakeholders," said Bruno Lafont, co-chairman of the board of directors of LafargeHolcim.

The new LafargeHolcim shares will be traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange as well as the Euronext in Paris as of 14 July 2015. As announced, LafargeHolcim will re-open the public exchange offer to give the remaining Lafarge shareholders the opportunity to also tender their shares. The new offer period will start on 15 July 2015 for a duration of ten trading days until 28 July 2015.

Europe: The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has published the final results of the public exchange offer initiated by Holcim Ltd for the shares of Lafarge SA.

Following the settlement-delivery of the offer expected to occur on 10 July 2015, Holcim Ltd will hold 252,230,673 Lafarge SA shares, representing 87.46% of the share capital and at least 83.94% of the voting rights of Lafarge SA based on the total number of shares outstanding as of 8 July 2015. In accordance with the AMF general regulations, the offer will be re-opened during at least 10 trading days according to a timetable that will be published by the AMF.

Holcim has announced that in connection with the successful public exchange offer and the expected closing of the merger with Lafarge, Bernard Fontana will step down from his position as CEO of Holcim Ltd with the completion of the merger. He will also resign from all mandates in all Holcim Group entities.

"It has been a pleasure and honour to work with remarkable and passionate people throughout the past years at Holcim. I wish the new company LafargeHolcim and the entire team all the very best for the future," said Fontana. The board of directors has thanked Fontana for his leadership and achievements for the group, and in particular for the successful implementation of the Holcim Leadership Journey.

Andreas Leu, currently responsible for the Americas, will also leave Holcim with effect from 1 August 2015. Bernard Terver, currently responsible for Africa and the Middle East as well as South Asia, will assume the position as head of India for LafargeHolcim from the date of the closure of the merger. In this capacity he will continue his mandates in the boards of Ambuja Cements and ACC Limited in India. Holcim's board of directors and the executive committee have thanked Leu for his contributions to the success of the group and wish him all the very best for his future.

Europe: The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has published the interim results of the public exchange offer initiated by Holcim Ltd for the shares of Lafarge SA.

As of 7 July 2015, a total of 252,230,673 shares, representing 87.46% of the share capital and at least 81.47% of the voting rights of Lafarge SA, have been tendered. The success of the offer was subject to the condition that a minimum acceptance threshold of 66.6% of Lafarge's share capital or voting rights be reached by Holcim. The final results will be published by the AMF on 9 July 2015. According to the press release, the result reflects the confidence of shareholders in the future company.

The settlement-delivery of the new shares to shareholders having tendered their Lafarge SA shares is scheduled for 13 July 2015.

Romania: According to Romania-Insider, Germany's HeidelbergCement will merge its three subsidiaries in Romania, Carpatcement Holding, Carpat Beton and Carpat Agregate, to form a single company called HeidelbergCement Romania.

Carpatcement Holding has three cement plants in Romania, whereas Carpat Beton owns 18 concrete stations and Carpat Agregate operates 14 quarries and aggregates exploitations. The internal reorganisation process will end in December 2015. HeidelbergCement has invested Euro500m in Romania to date.

US: According to Imperial Valley News, following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a final order settling charges that the merger of Lafarge and Holcim would likely harm competition in 12 markets for Portland cement and two markets for slag cement.

Under the order, first announced in May 2015, the two companies are required to divest cement plants, quarries, terminals and other assets in the 12 states of Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin, as well as several locations in Canada. The commission vote that approved the final order was 4-1, with commissioner Joshua D Wright voting no.