By Inti Landauro
PARIS--French cement maker Lafarge SA (LG.FR) and partner Anglo
American PLC (AAL.LN) agreed to sell a portfolio of assets to
Mittal Investment, a holding company belonging to Indian
billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and his family, for as much as 285
million pounds ($451.6 million), a move that will clear the path
for the merger of the two companies' units in the U.K.
Lafarge announced last year a project to merge its U.K. unit
with Anglo American's construction materials unit Tarmac into a
single maker of cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt
and maintenance services. U.K. anti-trust regulator ordered the two
companies to sell a series of assets to let the deal go
forward.
Lafarge and Anglo American agreed to sell a cement plant in
Hope, U.K., with a capacity of 1.4 million metric tons, a network
of 172 ready mix concrete plants, five quarries, two asphalt plants
and other assets, the companies said Friday in a joint
statement.
Mittal Investment will pay GBP272 million for the assets,
including as much as GBP30 million related to the performance of
the assets over the next three years. Mittal would pay an
additional GBP13 million related to working capital of the divested
assets not transferring with the business.
The completion of the joint venture between Anglo American and
Lafarge is expected to be completed early 2013, the statement
said.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires