Lafarge to sell Chilean business

By Chris Sleight29 July 2009

Lafarge is to sell its interests in cement, aggregates and concrete businesses in Chile to the Peruvian conglomerate Brescia Group for US$ 555 million. The deal is part of the company's global divestment plan.

The assets being sold with Lafarge's exit from the market include a 1.5 million tonne per year cement plant in La Calera, some 100km from Santiago, a 300000 tonne per year grinding plant in the south of the country and a second grinding plan currently under construction in Ventanas. It is also selling 54 ready-mixed concrete plants, five aggregate quarries, an import terminal and mortar production unit.

Lafarge's minority interest in its Chilean gypsum business is not included in the sale.

Lafarge owns 84% of these assets through two corporate entities - Lafarge Chile SA and Immobilaria San Patricio. Both are listed on the Santiago stock exchange.

The transaction is due to take effect from 31 August, following Brescia Group's launch of a public tender to buy-out other minority interests in Lafarge Chile SA.

Divestments

The deal represents a major part of the € 1 billion (US$ 1.43 billion) divestment programme announced in February. It has already sold asphalt businesses in the US and Canada, aggregates and concrete operations in Europe and North America and a cement plant in Turkey. Including the Chilean deal, these take its divestments to date this year to € 750 million (US$ 1.07 billion).

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