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FRENCH head-quartered cement production outfit, Lafarge Group, which has a presence in Zimbabwe, officially merged with Swiss based Holcim International, creating a global building materials behemoth.

Lafarge, operates Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe, formerly known as Circle Cement. The company is the second largest cement producer in the country and is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. The merger has resulted in the creation of a new giant in the building materials industry which will be called LafargeHolcim.

The new company is expected to have a combined revenue of about $40 billion, operating in 90 countries, Zimbabwe included.

LafargeHolcim CEO Eric Olsen said: “Now as LafargeHolcim, we will step into the next phase of our transformation to become the leader in every respect – a company that has a positive impact on the world and can make a real difference for its customers, its employees, its shareholders and society.”

LafargeHolcim will be organised along a new operating model oriented to serve the local customers, while leveraging the Group’s size, footprint, and capabilities at global scale. It combines empowered countries, regional management platforms and expertise-driven group functions.

The merger was completed last week with the success of the public exchange offer.

Holcim’s public exchange offer for Lafarge succeeded with 87,46 percent of Lafarge’s share capital, representing 81,47 percent of voting rights, offered by shareholders, fulfilling the conditions for the merger to go ahead.

Its shares started trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the Euronext in Paris on Tuesday. — Wires.