Cement producers Holcim and Lafarge are moving forward with their $40bn merger. The deal was thrown into doubt last week after the companies said they could not agree on the final terms. The original agreement had Lafarge shareholders receiving one Holcim share for each Lafarge share.
But following discussions between representatives of both companies, the new conditions of the agreement provide an exchange rate between shares of the two companies of 9 Holcim shares for 10 Lafarge shares.
The position of CEO of the new group will no longer be entrusted to the Frenchman Bruno Lafont, the current head of Lafarge, as originally negotiated. Bruno Lafont will be appointed co-chair of the group along with Wolfgang Reitzle, the current president of Holcim, and the two will not have executive powers in the new company. So far, no decision has been taken on filling group’s CEO position.
