French building materials group Lafarge has bought up German holding company Finlatam V GmbH, owner of about 99 per cent in Ecuador’s second largest cement manufacturer Cementos Selva Alegre, for $130m, free of debt, the French group said on January 3, 2005. Cementos Selva Alegre, with a 20 per cent share in the Ecuadorean market, runs a cement plant with a 640,000tpa capacity, located some 110 km north of the capital Quito.
With a population of nearly 13 million, Ecuador offers a growing cement market of 3.2Mt in 2003. The company, with around 170 employees, reported a turnover of $57m and a $21.5m EBITDA for 2003. It is listed on the Quito stock market.
Lafarge bought Finlatam V GMBH from an unnamed German capital investment company. Lafarge has strong positions on the Latin American cement markets, being present in Brazil, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Venezuela, French West Indies and French Guyana.
