Holcim’s second biggest shareholder reported to be unhappy with new terms

According to media reports, Holcim is open to giving its second biggest shareholder Eurocement Holding a seat on the board after the merger with Lafarge goes through. After discussions last week in which the share exchange terms were renegotiated, following reports that shareholders were unhappy with the proposed arrangements, Eurocement, with a 10.8% stake in Holcim, is said to have rejected the revised agreement.

Talking to Bloomberg, Holcim Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle said that having Filaret Galchev, owner of Eurocement, on the new board would be ‘beneficial’, given his expertise from the cement sector. Reitzle also excluded the possibility of re-opening negotiations with Lafarge or paying a special dividend to Holcim shareholders. He acknowledged that both he and future Co-Chairman Bruno Lafont would have their hands full ‘to ensure a successful merger’.

“Our main goal is to complete the merger as quickly as possible and then work on realizing the synergies while simultaneously forging a single culture,” Reitzle told Bloomberg.

On 8 May, two-thirds of Holcim’s shareholders will need to approve a capital increase that is necessary for the merger to take place. Holcim’s largest shareholder, Thomas Schmidheiny, supports the deal.

Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui

Sources:

• Bloomberg
• Reuters
• Yahoo Finance
• City AM

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/02042015/holcim-second-biggest-shareholder-reported-to-be-unhappy-with-new-terms-635/