CRH Confirms €6.5 Billion Deal To Acquire Assets From Holcim, Lafarge

(RTTNews) - Irish building materials company CRH Plc (CRH.L, CRH) has agreed to acquire assets from cement companies Lafarge SA (LFGEF.PK, LFRGY.PK) and Holcim Ltd (HCMLY.PK) for €6.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The sale of the assets in Europe, Canada and elsewhere is a precondition of winning antitrust approval of the about $40 billion pending merger between France's Lafarge and Switzerland's Holcim.

CRH said the deal will be funded by cash, debt and a 9.99% equity placing.

The Journal earlier reported that CRH was close to a deal to buy the assets.

CRH was in a close race for the assets with a private-equity consortium including Blackstone Group LP, Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Journal said.

Lafarge and Holcim announced their merger last April, and said they hoped to close the deal in the first half of 2015. To assuage antitrust concerns, the companies agreed to sell assets that generate about ?€5 billion in annual revenue.