Heidelberg not to buy Lafarge or Holcim assets

674 HeidelbergCement has confirmed it will not buy any of the businesses that must be sold off as part of its rivals' merger.

In a brief statement, the German company told its shareholders it had now stopped looking at the assets being put on the block by its rivals, as it wanted to fortify its balance sheet and put cash into its own projects instead.

Given the importance of cement to developing economies - and 725 Lafarge and 680 Holcim's dominant positions in the market - their merger has come under enormous scrutiny from regulators worldwide, with a suite of asset sales required for the deal to complete.

The €40 billion of assets that have been put up for sale by the French and Swiss groups include businesses in Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and the UK.

The Heidelberg statement in full: “After a thorough analysis, HeidelbergCement has decided to refrain from the ongoing bidding process for the assets offered for sale of Lafarge and Holcim in the frame of its merger proceedings.

“The company intends to use the anticipated proceeds from the announced sale of its building products business in North America and United Kingdom for debt reduction and for its own high quality growth projects.”