Lafarge shareholders ok name change

MANILA, Philippines – Shareholders of Lafarge Republic Inc. Friday approved the change in name of the company to Republic Cement and Building Materials Inc.

The company called a special stockholders’ meeting Friday to approve the new name as well as the management agreement between Lafarge Cement Services Philippines which is now Republic Cement Services Inc. and Lafarge Republic.

The change of the name followed the acquisition by AEV CRH Holdings Inc., a joint venture between Aboitiz Equity Ventures and Ireland-headquartered CRH International of Lafarge Republic Inc. for P24 billion.

The concerned parties announced the deal in August.

AEV-CRH said it would delist Lafarge local bourse following the conclusion of a mandatory tender offer last month.

Tanada said the delisting has not been concluded yet as the company is still waiting for the requirements from the local bourse.

Under the rules of the PSE, a public company should have a minimum public float of 10 percent.

The joint venture now has 99 percent control of Lafarge Republic, Inc. following the end of a mandatory tender offer to minority shareholders in September.

It accepted from the public a total of 596.49 million shares representing 10.24 percent of the outstanding shares of Lafarge.

Swiss-company Holcim Ltd. and Lafarge S.A., a French company, have merged and launched a $43.2 billion combined building materials company.

The merger of global companies Lafarge and Holcim provided the opportunity for AEV and CRH to acquire the cement assets of Lafarge as the two global companies had to dispose off their assets to win regulatory approval for the merger.

Lafarge Philippines has a nationwide manufacturing network of four cement plants in Norzagaray, Bulacan; Teresa, Rizal and Taysan, Batangas, one grinding station in Danao, Cebu, and thru a subsidiary, Lafarge Iligan, Inc., a cement plant in Iligan City; and an aggregates quarry in Angono, Rizal, thru a subsidiary Lafarge Republic Aggregates, Inc.

CRH, which has operations in 34 countries, is a manufacturer, supplier, and distributor of building materials with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. Its shares are listed on the London and Dublin stock exchanges, and its American Depositary Shares are listed in the New York Stock Exchange.

AEV’s entry into the lucrative cement business is seen to complement the conglomerate’s big-ticket infrastructure ventures and enable it to diversify its business currently consisting of power generation, real estate, banking and agribusiness.