Lafarge receives bids to acquire two India assets prior to merger with Holcim

725 Lafarge, the French cement giant, has received seven expressions of interests for the acquisition of two of its assets in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, India ahead of its merger with Switzerland-based 680 Holcim. Lafarge has been directed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to sell its cement plant in Sonadih and a grinding unit in Jojobera to relatively small companies with an installed capacity of at least 5% of their total capacity.

The bids for Lafarge’s Indian assets were made by six foreign and domestic cement firms as well as a private equity firm, and are reportedly in the range of INR 41bn (US$642.72 million) to INR 50 billion ($783.09 million). Lafarge is expected to shortlist qualified bidders by mid-June 2015 and finalise the transaction by the end of July 2015.