Lafarge/Holcim divests attract CRH along with private equity
Lafarge [EPA:LG] and Holcim's [OTCMKTS:HCMLY] planned divestments to clear the way for their major merger are being eyed by Ireland's CRH [NYSE:CRH] and four private equity consortia, according to a newswire report.
The Reuters item said bids being considered for the assets range from EUR 5bn to EUR 7bn (USD 6.5bn-USD 9bn), citing sources familiar with the matter.
This news service reported earlier this week that in terms of potential bidders, CVC has joined forces with the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC; BC Partners has teamed up with Advent International; and Cinven has teamed with Blackstone and CPPIB.
The newswire reported that CVC's consortium includes three other partners and that a fourth group has formed between Bain, Onex, and one more limited partner.
The Mergermarket Group, publisher of this news service, is a BC Partners portfolio firm.
An information memorandum was due to be released at the start of this week, this news service also reported. Besides disposals in Canada, Mauritius, the Philippines, and Brazil, Holcim's assets in Hungary and Serbia and Lafarge's in Romania are also included.
In western Europe, Lafarge's Mannersdorf cement plant in Austria and its German assets, much of both firms' holdings in France, and the UK's Lafarge Tarmac assets except for possibly one plant will go on the block.
EBITDA for the divisions combined comes to EUR 750m-EUR 850m, sources told this news service.
CRH's new CEO Albert Manifold has said the potential purchase of the Lafarge-Holcim assets would not interfere with the Irish firm's own plans to sell EUR 1.5bn-EUR 2bn worth of assets. There would be little overlap in CRH's sale of smaller subsidiaries and the large cement operations that Lafarge and Holcim are selling, he said. In May, the executive said CRH had EUR 1.5bn in M&A capacity going forward.
Source Newswire Round-up