“We purchased the assets on increasing our exposure on Romania, which is a key-economy regionally. This is a country we know and that we like very much,“ Victoria Palmer-Moore, representative of CHR’s communication department told ZF. These are the first official statements of CHR in local media after having bought two plants and other assets of Lafarge in Romania.
CHR equally owns construction materials producers Elpreco and Ferrobeton on the local market.
Romania is the second largest country in central and eastern Europe by the number of citizens, after Poland.
CRH paid EUR6.5 billion for several assets owned by Lafarge and Swiss cement group Holcim on different continents. Lafarge and Holcim have recently merged as LafargeHolcim.
Palmer-Moore said CHR will further make several announcements regarding its operations once the company takes over these operations as a result of the merger. She did not mention the name of the new company controlling the local cement operations, but most probably it will be called CRH, according to market sources.
Thus, CHR takes over from Lafarge its cement plants in Medgidia and Hoghiz, the grinding mill in Targu-Jiu, as well as several bench mining, rock plants and concrete units.
Lafarge Romania posted consolidated revenue of nearly EUR200 million in 2014. The company’s 1,000 employees in Romania will not lose their jobs following the owner change, Lafarge Romania previously said in a statement.
Romanian cement market will further be dominated by three large players, namely LafargeHolcim, Germany’s HeidelbergCement with the local unit Carpatcement Holding, and CRH. The local cement market is evaluated at nearly EUR500 or EUR600 million annually.
CRH group was set up in 1970. Now, it operates throughout 34 countries, employs 76,000 people and posted sales of EUR19 billion in 2014. The group’s main operations are in North America and Europe.
(English version by Manuela Panescu)