CRH shares gain as it seals deal with Lafarge, Holcim

Shares in Irish building materials company CRH rose 2.5% after the company said late on Tuesday that Lafarge and Holcim have accepted its offer to buy certain assets from them in a deal worth €6.5n.

Lafarge and Holcim have accepted the offer and have become legally-bound to the terms of the acquisition, but it remains conditional upon the successful completion of the merger of Lafarge and Holcim and the completion of local asset reorganisations.

The transaction, which was announced in February and cleared by EU anti-trust regulators last month, includes assets in Europe, Canada, Brazil and the Philippines.

Holcim and Lafarge said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they have completed the appointments for the future Executive Committee of LafargeHolcim.

Holcim's chief financial officer Thomas Aebischer will be in charge of finance for the group, while Lafarge Morocco head Saad Sebbar will lead the Middle East and Africa region, and Lafarge France head Pascal Casanova will be in charge of Latin America.

The appointments mean each company will have five executives on the combined committee, to be led by Lafarge's Eric Olsen as chief executive.