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Ireland's CRH to buy Lafarge, Holcim assets for 6.5 bln euros

Xinhua, February 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ireland's building materials group CRH announced on Monday it has entered into a 6.5-billion-euro transaction to acquire some assets from European rivals Lafarge and Holcim.

In a statement, CRH said the acquisition will be expected to complete in mid-2015.

CRH, a FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 company, is a diversified international building materials group headquartered in Ireland.

Under this transaction, CRH proposes to finance the acquisition, through a combination of 2 billion euro cash on balance sheet, bank facilities and the proceeds of an equity placing of 9.99 percent of CRH's current issued share capital.

CRH Chief Executive Albert Manifold said this transaction represents a significant value creation opportunity for his company.

"We are acquiring a quality portfolio of assets, which complement our existing positions, at an attractive valuation and at the right point of the cycle," he said.

"The acquisition strengthens our presence in important markets across North America, Western, Central and Eastern Europe as well as providing new platforms for growth in emerging markets," he added.

In December last year, the European Union (EU) cleared the merger of French giant Lafarge with Swiss rival Holcim to form the world's biggest cement group after both sold parts of their business to meet competition concerns.

The European Commission, the executive body of the EU, said it allowed the merger to go ahead on condition that Lafarge should divest businesses in Germany, Romania and Britain and that Holcim should do the same in France, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain and the Czech Republic.

Holcim and Lafarge announced in April last year they were merging to create the world's biggest cement group worth 40 billion euros, with an eye on booming construction in emerging markets. The new company will be called LafargeHolcim. Enditem