German cement producer Dyckerhoff AG said its parent company Buzzi Unicem SpA had agreed to buy additional ordinary and preferred shares in it, raising its total share capital in the firm by 3.6 per cent to 96.6 per cent.

Dyckerhoff did not reveal the value of the transaction but specified that during the current year and including the most recent agreement Buzzi Unicem had bought shares in it for some EUR71.7m.

As a shareholder of at least 95 per cent of Dyckerhoff, Buzzi Unicem is entitled, under the German law, to start a squeeze-out procedure for the remaining shares it does not already own. However, it has not yet made any final decision on such a move, Dyckerhoff said.

The deal is expected to be completed by 30 November 2012.