Greece: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Halyps Building Materials has agreed to sell its aggregates business and two ready-mix concrete plants to Heracles Group, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim. Heracles Group said that the acquisition would enable it to better serve the growing Athens metropolitan area and key infrastructure projects regionally. The value of the deal is undisclosed.

LafargeHolcim’s Europe, Middle East and Africa regional head Miljan Gutovic said, “I am excited about the opportunities and growth prospects of this acquisition in the Attica region of central Greece. It will provide additional support towards our net zero ambition with our leading range of sustainable building solutions such as EcoPact green concrete.” Heracles Group launched EcoPact on the Greek market in April 2021. In the first four months of 2021, LafargeHolcim completed four other bolt-on acquisitions.

HeidelbergCement remains active in the market through its subsidiary Halyps Cement. The company operates the 0.7Mt/yr Apropyrgos cement plant in Athens. Chief executive officer Dominik von Achten said, "We are pleased that the transaction has been successfully signed.” He added that the realignment is the next step in the group’s portfolio optimisation as part of its Beyond 2020 strategy. In January 2021, its subsidiary Suez Cement departed from the Kuwait cement market with the sale of its majority stake in Hilal Cement.