Italian cement and concrete manufacturer Buzzi Unicem SpA purchased five million ordinary shares of German cement maker Dyckerhoff, a company controlled by Buzzi Unicem, for Euro418.5m. Buzzi bought the shares from financial company Imi Finance Luxembourg SA, owned by Italian bank Banca IMI, a unit of local banking group San Paolo IMI.
The shares are equal to 24.19 per cent of Dyckerhoff’s capital. The share transfer and the payment will take place on January 31, 2005. Thanks to the operation, Buzzi will then own a 91.2 per cent stake in Dyckerhoff ’s ordinary capital and 76.73 per cent of the total share capital by the end of January 2005.