CRH Said to Be Nearing Agreement to Buy Holcim-Lafarge Assets

(Bloomberg) — Irish building-materials company CRH Plc is nearing an agreement to buy assets that cement makers Holcim Ltd and Lafarge SA need to sell ahead of their planned merger, according to people familiar with the matter.

Both sides aim to announce a deal as early as Monday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are not public. Negotiations between CRH, which is partnering with KKR & Co., and Holcim-Lafarge are ongoing and could still fall apart, the people said.

The parties are are trying to reach a compromise on a price between about 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion) and 6.6 billion euros, the people said. The Irish company has been competing with a group including Cinven Ltd. and Blackstone Group LP, which haven’t been officially told they’re out of the process, they said.

A representative for CRH today declined to comment. Holcim and Lafarge couldn’t be immediately reached for comment outside of regular business hours today. On Jan. 30, both companies said the process is ongoing and no exclusivity had been given, while declining further comment.

CRH earlier this month confirmed that is in talks with Lafarge and Holcim about a potential purchase of assets, adding it would probably use cash, debt and an equity placing to fund such as deal. A deal would allow Dublin-based CRH to move into new markets and expand its presence in existing ones.

The builder, which was formed in 1970 through the merger of two Irish companies, already operates in 35 countries with about 76,000 people and has about 18 billion euros in sales, according to its website.

Holcim and Lafarge are seeking to divest businesses with revenue of about 5 billion euros to ensure regulatory approval for the deal. The companies expect the $40 billion merger, agreed on in April 2014, to be completed in the first half of this year.

–With assistance from Matthew Campbell in London and Joe Brennan in Dublin.

To contact the reporters on this story: Manuel Baigorri in London at [e-mail]; Aaron Kirchfeld in London at [e-mail]; Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at [e-mail] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Thiel at [e-mail] Aaron Kirchfeld