Lafarge and Holcim complete merger

Holcim and Lafarge have completed their merger to form LafargeHolcim. The company is the largest construction materials producer in the world with 115,000 employees in 90 countries and annual sales of some CHF 33 billion (US$ 35 billion).

As previously announced, Lafarge executive Eric Olsen is CEO of the company, while Wolfgang Reitzle, formerly of Holcim, and Lafarge’s Bruno Lafont are co-chairmen.

Mr Reitzle said, “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.”

Mr Lafont added, “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 start trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange as well as the Euronext in Paris from July 14.