US private equity group Blackstone, London buyout firm Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are exploring a joint bid for €5bn worth of assets earmarked for sale by cement makers Lafarge and Holcim, two people with knowledge of the talks said.
The move underscores strong private equity interest in the plants that the world's two largest cement groups seek to offload to win antitrust approval for their $40bn merger, report the FT's Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Arash Massoudi and Ed Hammond.
Other firms weighing up distinct or joint offers for the factories include TPG Capital, CVC, KKR and BC Partners. Competing cement makers are also expected to evaluate offers for some of the assets.
Lafarge and Holcim, which announced their intention to merge in April, are gearing up to kick-start a competitive sale of those assets as soon as this month, people with knowledge of the plan said.
Credit Suisse, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas are managing the auction. First round bids are expected to be due in September.
The disposal of production facilities was announced as part of the April deal to pre-empt antitrust concerns. The parameters of the sales have yet to be detailed by Lafarge and Holcim.
Analysts and bankers have speculated that the auction will include assets in Western Europe, Canada, Brazil and Philippines.