Holcim Ltd and Lafarge S.A. completed their global merger on July 10 and have launched LafargeHolcim, a world leader in the building materials industry.
All conditions for the completion of the merger have been 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 May 8.
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 also unveiled 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.
Wolfgang Reitzle, co-chairman (statutory chairman) of the board of directors of LafargeHolcim, says: “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 R&D 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.”
Bruno Lafont, co-chairman of the board of directors of LafargeHolcim, adds: “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.”
The new LafargeHolcim shares will be traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange as well as the Euronext in Paris as of July 14. 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 July 15 for a duration of 10 trading days until July 28.
In April 2014 both companies announced their intention to merge. The Group received all relevant anti-trust approvals within the expected timeframe following a proactive dialogue with the respective authorities. In this context, operations in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Brazil, India, the Philippines and Mauritius are being divested. Completion of these transactions is expected within the coming months.
