2 Giant European Cement Makers Are in Merger Talks
By DAVID JOLLY

PARIS — Holcim and Lafarge, two giant European cement makers, said Friday that they were in ‘‘advanced discussions’’ about a merger of equals that would create the industry’s leader, if the deal survives regulatory scrutiny.

Lafarge, based in France, and Holcim of Switzerland said in a statement that the complementary nature of their businesses and their “cultural proximity” provided the logic for a tie-up “that could deliver significant benefits to customers, employees and shareholders.”

They cautioned that there was ‘‘no assurance’’ a deal would be reached. A merger of companies of their size is certain to attract global antitrust concerns, particularly in Europe.

Pulling off the merger could take several years, as the companies will have to negotiate with regulators in multiple jurisdictions. Considering their global reach, Lafarge and Holcim could have to sell assets to get regulatory approval.

The cement sector has already attracted the attention of the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm. The commission said in October that it was investigating Holcim’s takeover of the northwestern European operations of Cemex, the Mexican cement giant. And that was after it began investigating Cemex’s acquisition of Holcim in Spain.

Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for Joaquín Almunia, the European Union competition commissioner, declined to comment on the possible merger.

Both companies are world leaders in the market for cement and related products like stone, gravel and sand. Holcim last year had sales of more than 19.7 billion Swiss francs, or $22.2 billion. Lafarge’s full-year sales were 15.2 billion euros, or $20.9 billion.

The proposed deal is the latest in the resurging European market. Mergers and acquisitions in the region totaled almost $272 billion in the first quarter, up 53 percent from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data. Telecommunications deals made up the biggest part of that, followed by industrial and health care companies.

Shares of Holcim rose 6.9 percent in late trading in Zurich, and Lafarge rose 8.9 percent in Paris. News of the talks was first reported by Bloomberg News.

市值500億美元 法瑞水泥巨擘合體

全球前兩大水泥製造商法國拉法基集團（Lafarge）與瑞士霍爾希姆集團（Holcim）即將完成合併協商，合併後市值將超越500億美元，是水泥業歷來最大併購案。

拉法基與霍爾希姆4日表示，兩家公司合併有很強的互補效益，但尚未拍板定案。此舉將有助雙方削減支出與負債，在水泥業走過2008年金融危機低谷之際，更能因應能源價格飆漲與需求趨緩的雙重衝擊。

完成合併後，拉法基-霍爾希姆將在歐、美等地享有獨占地位，預料將面臨歐洲監管機關審查，可能要求雙方出售部分水泥廠和經銷管道，才會批准併購。

這起交易也可能在十幾個國家掀起政治敏感議題，拉法基與霍爾希姆在全球營建業扮演不可或缺的重要角色，也是開發中國家賴以推動都市化的關鍵。

這項交易將創造營收逾400億美元的全球水泥霸業，也是歐洲今年來規模最大的併購案。拉法基與霍爾希姆股價4日分別勁揚8.9%與6.9%，雙雙升抵四年來高點，帶動整體水泥業上漲。

法國外貿銀行分析師班奇加指出，以地理因素來看，結盟對雙方大有助益，拉法基在非洲與中東享有優勢，霍爾希姆則在拉美稱霸。併購程序可能費時數年，但班奇加估計合併案可使拉法基固定和可變成本將近減半，霍爾希姆擁有較高信評，也有助壓低借貸成本。

創立於1833年的拉法基是全球第二大水泥業者，該公司出產的水泥曾用在蘇伊士運河工程；也是老店的霍爾希姆，去年以220億美元營收穩占全球水泥業龍頭，兩者版圖都橫跨全球近70國。

兩家公司在過去十年皆累積龐大債務，為了搶食新興市場龐大商機而急速擴張，美國房市泡沫破滅和歐債危機接踵而來，導致水泥需求銳減，砸下大筆銀子收購埃及同業的拉法基，也在阿拉伯之春動盪受創。

原文參照：
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/2-giant-european-cement-makers-are-in-merger-talks/

2014-04-06．經濟日報．A9．國際企業．編譯楊宛盼