Aboitiz plans to buy Lafarge Philippines assets

Philippine conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc said on Friday it had signed an agreement for a possible acquisition of Lafarge's local cement operations in partnership with CRH Plc.

CRH had earlier agreed to buy for EUR6.5bn cement assets from Lafarge and Holcim Ltd., whose asset divestments are part of preconditions to winning regulatory approval for their merger. Both Lafarge and Holcim have cement assets in the Philippines.

Aboitiz, which has investments in power generation and banking, said it was in exclusive talks with CRH to acquire four cement manufacturing plants on the main Luzon island and a plant in central Cebu province as well as associated limestone quarries.

"Venturing into infrastructure meets our growth criteria. We are very optimistic of the potential gains this new core business will bring to the Group amid the huge demand for infrastructure in the Philippines," Aboitiz Equity president Erramon Aboitiz said in a statement.

A conclusion of the deal will be subject to completion of the merger between Lafarge and Holcim and approval by the boards of both Aboitiz and CRH, the Philippine company told Manila's stock exchange.