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Europe: LafargeHolcim has decided to initiate a squeeze-out process for all issued and outstanding shares of Lafarge. After surpassing the necessary 95% threshold in the share capital and voting rights and following a decision by the board of directors, LafargeHolcim plans to request that the AMF implement a squeeze-out procedure pursuant to their general regulations for Lafarge shares not tendered to the Public Exchange Offer. LafargeHolcim will publish further details on the squeeze-out upon filing with the AMF.
Ricardo Lima at the helm of Intercement
Written by Global Cement staff
04 August 2015
Brazil: COO of Intercement Ricardo Lima has been appointed as company president. He replaces Jose Edison Franco. Lima and Franco have made a strategic company plan, which includes a US$250m investment in a new cement plant in Mozambique.
Gulf Cement profits fall by 29.3% in the first half of 2015 03 August 2015
UAE: Gulf Cement Company has reported a 29.3% profit drop to US$48.4m in the first half of 2015 compared to US$12m in the same period of 2014. Profits grew to US$4.29m in the first half of 2015 from US$2.53m in 2014. Gulf Cement had previously reported profits of US$4.12m in the first quarter of 2015 compared to US$14.4m in the same period of 2014.
High Court overturns rulings against CRH in Goode case 03 August 2015
Ireland: The Supreme Court has overturned rulings made by a High Court judge in proceedings by Goode Concrete against CRH on grounds of alleged objective bias arising from the judge holding some Euro135,000 in CRH shares, according to The Irish Times.
Chief Justice Susan Denham said that, if the judges held shares directly in a company involved in litigation before them, as opposed to shares held in a pension plan or unit fund over which they have no control, they should 'generally' not hear the action. The disputed rulings, all unfavourable to the Goode side, were made between 2010 and 2012 by Justice John Cooke, who has since retired, on pre-trial matters in Goode Concrete's action over alleged uncompetitive practices by CRH. The issues will now be reheard before a different High Court judge.
By a four-to-one majority, the Supreme Court granted Goode's appeals against the rulings after finding that Justice Cooke erred in law in hearing the applications due to reasonable apprehension of objective bias due to his CRH shareholding. Justice Cooke held the shares himself; they were not in a trust or any other type of fund.
Italy: HeidelbergCement rushed to buy control of Italcementi after fears that Nigeria's Dangote Cement also showed interest in the Italian cement maker, according to PM News. It has been reported that Dangote did not make a formal offer for Italcementi.
Carl Franklin, head of investor relations at Dangote, said that the company did not comment on specific rumours, but said that "As a large company we examine all options for growth." HeidelbergCement has not commented on whether it had faced competition from Dangote.
According to unnamed sources, the talks between HeidelbergCement and Italcementi began four months ago.
Italcementi chief executive Carlo Pesenti told local media that the deal was 'bulletproof' and there was no space for counter offers. The only outstanding condition was clearance from antitrust authorities. "If it wasn't for the antitrust approval, the shares would have already changed hands," said an unnamed source.
Having already agreed to acquire a 45% stake of Italcementi, HeidelbergCement plans to obtain as many of the remaining shares as possible in the upcoming mandatory buy-out offer, then squeeze out the remaining shareholders and make Italcementi privately-owned.