Displaying items by tag: Lafarge

There was a lot of news out of Lafarge and Holcim this week regarding preparations towards their merger. Just this morning we heard that the partners have entered into a binding agreement with Ireland's CRH regarding the sale of the assets that must be divested. Meanwhile, Lafarge and Holcim have also completed the appointments for the future LafargeHolcim executive committee. Its nine members will be responsible for such tasks as finance, integration, performance and costs, growth and innovation, as well as regional activities in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, North America and Latin America.

However, it was other types of personnel that featured in Lafarge and Holcim's earlier press releases. On 19 May 2015 Lafarge came out and announced the first (pre-merger) job losses that will result from the merger. It will cut 380 positions in central and regional corporate roles, with 166 going in its native France. For its part Holcim will make 120 pre-merger job losses, all in Switzerland. Ignoring the clear discrepancy in scale between the different sides, Lafarge and Holcim will have lost at least 500 jobs out of their combined ~130,000. This is just a scratch on the surface, but it does raise an interesting question: How many more jobs will go at LafargeHolcim?

First up are the staff that will go to work for CRH. This probably represents the largest number of staff that will come of LafargeHolcim's books relative to Lafarge and Holcim's current staff levels. According to their 2014 Annual Reports, Lafarge and Holcim employ a combined 81,000 staff in cement roles. Given that they have a combined 425Mt/yr of cement capacity (give or take) this equates to around 190 staff for each 1Mt/yr of capacity.

As the new LafargeHolcim will have control over around 340Mt/yr of cement capacity, we can crudely scale the 190 staff up to 64,600 cement sector staff. This indicates that around 16,400 staff that are currently employed by Lafarge and Holcim will be 'off' to CRH (and others). This leaves 48,100 staff in non-cement roles at LafargeHolcim.

Will more jobs be lost post-merger? Lafarge and Holcim have stated that the new entity will have 115,000 staff. However, with around 42% of future employees employed in non-cement roles - compared to 41% and 34% for Lafarge and Holcim respectively in 2014 - it certainly seems that there could be scope for at least some reduction in overall numbers from LafargeHolcim's non-cement functions. Future job losses could therefore be a possibility, but the exact scale of future consolidations and 'synergies' (if any) will only become apparent post-merger. Maybe LafargeHolcim could end up with around 105,000 to 110,000 staff.

A key time may well be early 2016, when LafargeHolcim will launch a new 'corporate structure.' This term was also used by Lafarge and Holcim in their most recent releases, so further job losses could be on the cards.

One member of LafargeHolcim staff with nothing to worry about now will be Bruno Lafont, current CEO of Lafarge. He received a Euro2.5m bonus this week for his 'key role' in conducting the merger. How LafargeHolcim staff who could be nervous about their jobs will take this remains to be seen.

The Lafarge-Holcim Report from Global Cement is available to order now

Europe: Lafarge and Holcim have completed the appointments for the future executive committee of LafargeHolcim following a recommendation by Eric Olsen, future CEO of the combined group. The future executive committee, under the leadership of Eric Olsen, is composed of:

• Finance - Thomas Aebischer, currently in charge of finance at Holcim;
• Integration, organisation and human resources - Jean-Jacques Gauthier, currently in charge of finance at Lafarge;
• Europe - Roland Köhler, currently in charge of Europe at Holcim;
• Asia Pacific - Ian Thackwray, currently in charge of East Asia Pacific and trading at Holcim;
• Middle-East Africa - Saâd Sebbar, currently in charge of Morocco at Lafarge;
• North America - Alain Bourguignon, previously in charge of North America and the UK at Holcim;
• Latin America - Pascal Casanova, currently in charge of France at Lafarge;
• Performance and cost - Urs Bleisch, currently in charge of corporate functions at Holcim;
• Growth and innovation - Gérard Kuperfarb, currently in charge of innovation at Lafarge.

Following appropriate information-consultation processes with relevant works councils and employee representatives, Lafarge and Holcim have now entered a binding agreement with CRH regarding the sale of several assets. The assets include operations mainly in Europe, Canada, Brazil and the Philippines with an enterprise value of Euro6.5bn. The divestments remain subject to the completion of the merger including the acceptance of Holcim's public exchange offer by the shareholders of Lafarge. The merger is expected to close in July 2015.

France: Lafarge chief executive Bruno Lafont has been awarded a Euro2.5m bonus for the successful merger with Holcim. The board of directors of the company awarded Lafont the money 'for his key role in the merger project with Holcim' and 'his exceptional performance,' according to a document posted on its website. The board accorded the bonus at a meeting on 12 May 2015, two days after Holcim shareholders approved the merger by a vote of 94%. Lafont will receive the money in May 2015.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia's pre-tax profit for the first quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, rose to US$27.6m from US$26.9m in the same quarter of 2014. Its revenue improved to US$193m from US$188m in the prior year due to higher cement and concrete sales in the domestic market on the back of market growth. The company expects the construction sector to continue to grow in 2015 driven mainly by the continued progress of key infrastructure projects and ongoing commercial and residential development.

India: Six foreign and domestic cement companies, along with one private equity firm, have expressed interest in buying the assets that Lafarge is divesting in India before it closes its merger with Holcim. The bids were in excess of US$627m.

The deadline for submitting non-binding bids for the assets expired on 16 May 2015. Ahead of that deadline, local media reported that bids came from Shree Cement, Chettinad Cement, HeidelbergCement India, The Ramco Cements, CRH and Blackstone Group.

As a precondition to clearing Indian leg of the LafargeHolcim, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) directed Lafarge to sell two of its assets in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. These are a cement plant at Sonadih, Chhattisgarh and a grinding plant at Jojobera, Jharkhand, with a total capacity of approximately 5Mt/yr. In its directions, the CCI said that Lafarge should sell its assets 'to relatively smaller players, having an installed capacity of less than 5% of their total capacity in the relevant geographic market.'

With the non-binding bids in, Lafarge is likely to shortlist bidders by the middle of June 2015. The deal is likely to be concluded in July 2015.

France: Lafarge has proposed to cut 380 jobs as part of its pre-merger preparations ahead of its merger with Holcim to form LafaregHolcim. The new group, set to be the world's largest building materials group, will employ approximately 115,000 people.

The organisation of the new group will be balanced between a decentralised structure and strong central functions based on three organizational levels: Countries; Regions (Europe, North America, Middle East & Africa, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and; Corporate functions, which will help define the Group's key strategies.

There will be an equivalent number of personnel in the central functions in France and Switzerland. The new group's research and development centre will be located in France.

Concerning Lafarge at worldwide level (i.e., in sites located in Atlanta (USA), Beijing (China), Cairo (Egypt), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Lyon (France), Montreal (Canada), Paris (France) and Vienna (Austria)), the proposed new organisation of central functions will result in approximately 380 net job losses, with 166 of these in Paris and Lyon.

The social support measures that will be negotiated with employee representatives will mostly consist of solutions based on internal mobility, early retirement and (in France) voluntary departures. The proposed merger will not affect employment in Lafarge's operational functions in France, which employ more than 4500 people.

This procedure is a key phase in the preparation of the creation of the new LafargeHolcim Group. The completion of the proposed merger is expected to occur in July 2015. Before this can happen, the public exchange offer will have to be successful, with shareholders tendering at least two-thirds of Lafarge shares.

Philippines: Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc has signed a deal with CRH, which when completed would allow it to join CRH in investing in the Philippine cement plants of Lafarge.

CRH had earlier agreed to buy for US$7.34bn in cement assets from Lafarge and Holcim Ltd, whose asset divestments are part of preconditions to winning regulatory approval for their merger. Both Lafarge and Holcim have cement assets in the Philippines. Aboitiz Equity plans to join CRH in acquiring a majority of the shares of Lafarge Republic Inc and the shares in Luzon Continental Land Corp and Lafarge Cement Services Philippines Inc, which constitute the majority of Lafarge's local cement operations.

Aboitiz Equity president Erramon Aboitiz said that if the deal with CRH is finalised, it would provide it with an investment that dovetails with its plan to invest in infrastructure development. The company is already in banking, property development, food manufacturing and power generation and distribution. "Venturing into infrastructure meets our growth criteria. We are very optimistic of the potential gains this new core business will bring to the Group amid the huge demand for infrastructure in the Philippines," said Aboitiz.

The conclusion of deal is subject to the successful completion of the merger between Lafarge and Holcim as well as approval by the boards of both CRH and Aboitiz Equity.

Sri Lanka: Lafarge Mahaweli Cement is on schedule with its Savi Piyasa housing programme and has now partnered with nine leading brands in the construction sector and two commercial banks to add value to its technical assistance scheme for individual homebuilders.

Under its 'Building Better Cities' theme, Lafarge has helped many families around the world to have better, affordable housing facilities and hopes to provide decent housing to two million people worldwide by 2020.

In Sri Lanka, Lafarge has already provided architectural assistance to 220 families in the Western and Northern Province. With the intention of providing even better options for its Savi Piyasa clients, Lafarge has now entered into partnerships with several leading brands, enabling it to receive special discounts on a large variety of building materials such as steel, paints, glass, PVC pipes, etc. Moreover, Lafarge has tied up with commercial banks and microfinance institutions to provide their customers with easy access to loan facilities.

"We started this programme a year ago and we have been getting a lot of positive feedback. A package integrating architectural assistance, special discounts and financial facility has not been offered in Sri Lanka before, so I am confident that the individual homebuilders in the country will find interest in this turnkey solution," said Lafarge Mahaweli Cement managing director Anurag Kak.

Europe: On 8 May 2015, Lafarge and Holcim secured support from Holcim shareholders for their proposed merger. Representing around 72% of Holcim's share capital, the 738 shareholders attending the Extraordinary General Meeting of Holcim Ltd approved all motions proposed by the board of directors.

"Holcim shareholders have voted for a joint future with Lafarge with an overwhelming majority. With this decision, we create the opportunity for profitable and sustainable growth. Holcim and Lafarge can now take the final steps to found the world leader in the building materials sector," said Wolfgang Reitzle, currently chairman of Holcim and future co-chairman (statutory chairman).

"It is a great satisfaction that Holcim shareholders overwhelmingly gave their support to the proposed merger. This endorsement is a clear demonstration that shareholders are fully convinced of the substantial value creation potential. I am confident that Lafarge shareholders will in turn ratify this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and tender their shares, paving the way to the merger. The combined group will be a unique global champion in the building materials industry, focusing on customers and innovation, uniting the best teams in the industry. Featuring a new business model, outstanding cash flow generation capabilities and reduced capital intensity LafargeHolcim is designed to deliver superior returns to shareholders," said Bruno Lafont, currently chairman and CEO of Lafarge and future co-chairman of LafargeHolcim.

Holcim shareholders approved with a vast majority the creation of both ordinary and authorised share capital, which are necessary for the successful completion of the merger. In addition, shareholders also voted for the creation of authorised share capital in order to allow the distribution of a stock dividend to all shareholders of the new Company. The proposal to change the corporate name of Holcim Ltd to LafargeHolcim Ltd was approved as well.

The shareholders elected Bruno Lafont, Bertrand Collomb, Philippe Dauman, Paul Desmarais Jr, Oscar Fanjul, Gérard Lamarche and Nassef Sawiris to the board of directors. They will join Wolfgang Reitzle, Beat Hess, Alexander Gut, Adrian Loader, Thomas Schmidheiny, Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen, and Dieter Spälti, who had been elected at Holcim's ordinary General Meeting on 13 April 2015. Subject to the effective completion of the exchange offer, Anne Wade and Jürg Oleas will resign from their office as current members of the board of directors of Holcim.

US/Canada: Lafarge and Holcim have received final approval for their proposed merger from the competition authorities in the US and Canada. All competition approvals necessary for closing the transaction have now been obtained ahead of the expected closing in July 2015.

Following the regulatory assessment in all key jurisdictions, Holcim and Lafarge can now present a final list of divestments to satisfy regulatory requirements. These divestments remain subject to the completion of the merger, including a successful public exchange offering to Lafarge's shareholders and approval by Holcim's shareholders.