Indian regulator says cement giants Holcim-Lafarge merger to hurt competition

The Indian competition regulator over the weekend said that the equal merger between Holcim of Switzerland and Lafarge of France is likely to hurt competition in the country.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said that it ''formed a prima facie opinion that the combination is likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition.''

It has now directed both companies to publish details of the merger to the knowledge of the public and rival companies that may be affected or likely to be affected by such combination.

The CCI also directed both companies to publish details of the merger in all India editions of four leading daily newspapers, including at least two business newspapers, and also host the same details on their respective websites.

It has sought comments or objections from the public within 15 days of merger details being published.

In April this year, Holcim and Lafarge, two of the world's biggest cement companies, agreed to merge, creating the world's biggest cement maker, with a market cap of $50 billion and annual sales of nearly $43 billion. (See: Cement giants Holcim and Lafarge announce merger of equals)

The merged company, to be called LafargeHolcim, will be based in Switzerland, listed in Zurich and Paris, have a workforce of 136,000 people and generate annual savings of more than €1.4 billion ($1.9-billion) over three years.

The mega deal would require approval from regulators from around 17 countries, including from Europe, Canada, the US, Brazil, India, Serbia, Romania, Hungary, Morocco, Philippines and China.

The merger would see the annual sales of Lafarge-Holcim more than double to that of its next-biggest competitor, HeidelbergCement AG of Germany, and far above Beijing-based China National Building Materials Group Corp, and Cemex SAB of Mexico.

Regulators from seven countries have already approved the deal, including Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa and Singapore.

But both companies would have to sell assets worth more than $11 billion is several countries mainly in Slovakia, France, Romania, Germany, the UK, India, the US, Canada, Brazil and the Philippines.

Holcim has already received 60 bids for cement factories and other facilities it has put on the European market.

The size of the merger requires a lengthy examination before it can be approved, European Competition (EC) Commissioner Joaquin Almunia had said just after the merger was announced.

''Given the size of the two companies, and that they are the two main players in the European market, yes, it's clearly a phase 2 analysis," Almunia said, and added that a review that could take several months.

The EC takes 25 working days even for a preliminary review and normally opens a Phase 2 investigation of up to four months if it has serious concerns over a deal.

The CCI had earlier said that it will look closely at the transaction since the merged company will be the largest cement producer in India after Aditya Birla group's UltraTech and could have a sway over pricing.

Aditya Birla Group is the largest cement maker in India with a capacity of 62 mtpa, followed by Holcim and Lafarge, who have a combined capacity of 57.5 mtpa. 

UltraTech Cement is among the world's top 10 cement companies and manufactures and markets ordinary Portland cement, Portland blast furnace slag cement and Portland Pozzalana cement. It also manufactures ready mix concrete.

The company, which has grown through acquisitions, has 11 integrated plants, one white cement plant, one clinkerisation plant in the UAE, 15 grinding units, 11 in India, 2 in the UAE, one in Bahrain and Bangladesh each, and five terminals, four in India and one in Sri Lanka.

Lafarge entered the Indian market in 1999, through its cement business. The Paris-based company currently has four cement plants in India and is the market leader in the ready-mix concrete business with 80 plants.

Lafarge, through its operating companies, Lafarge India and Lafarge A&C, provides cement, ready-to-use concrete, aggregates, fly ash, clinker and waste management services, while Holcim, through its operating companies ACC and ACL provides, cement, ready-to-use concrete, clinker, fly ash, EcoSand and waste management services.

Cement

There are around 65 cement companies in India and around 185 - 188 cement plants, out of which 77 are located in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.