Lafarge and Holcim allowed to merge by US and Canadian authorities

Cement giants Holcim and Lafarge won US and Canada's antitrust approval to merge on Monday, more than a year after their megadeal was announced in April 2014.

Lafarge

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In order for the deal to complete in July 2015, as expected, both companies have agreed to divest plants, terminals and a quarry in order to gain approval of their deal, which is expected to allow them to cut costs.

The US Federal Trade Commission said the divestitures would preserve competition in 14 US cement markets.

In the UK, Lafarge Tamac's assets will be sold to building materials giant CRH, with the exception of its Cauldon and Cookstown plants and “certain associated assets”, as both companies pointed out in a joint statement.

The European Union (EU) antitrust enforcers gave their approval to the merge last December.

The final merger, which will see FTSE 100-listed CRH spend €6.5bn on assets from the pair, is expected to happen in July 2015.

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