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India: Competition Appellate Tribunal stays Holcim-Lafarge merger

By  |  April 13, 2016

In a big blow to global cement giants Lafarge and Holcim, the Competition Appellate Tribunal stayed their merger in India on Wednesday.

“The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) has today stayed the Holcim-Lafarge merger. This means Lafarge can’t sell its India assets to any buyer in the meantime,” said Abdullah Hussain, Partner, Luthra and Luthra Law offices. Currently, many cement companies — such as Ramco cements, CRH, JSW Steel and Piramal Enterprises — are interested in purchasing its assets.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had given a fresh approval to Holcim-Lafarge merger in February, when Lafarge told the regulator that it will sell its entire assets — almost Rs 10,000 crore in value.

The CCI had earlier approved this merger in March last year on the condition that Lafarge sell two of its cement plants, situated in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, which were of total 5.15 million tonnes in capacity. They were valued at around Rs 5,000 crore.

Full Content: Business Standard

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