India: Holcim-Lafarge asked to divest assets by watchdog

The country’s anti-trust regulator, Competition Commission of India, has written to Holcim-Lafarge to divest some of its units, including limestone reserves, to prevent a monopoly in eastern India they announced on Sunday.

Swiss cement group Holcim and Lafarge, its French rival, had announced a global merger in 2014, and applied for approval from regulators in more than a dozen countries.

The CCI received a notice from Holcim Ltd and Lafarge SA on the proposed merger. After prima facie investigations by CCI revealed the combination will likely have an appreciable adverse effect on competition.

According to Reuters, after the phase-II investigation, the regulator has now written to the combine that the merger proposal is fine, but certain assets including limestone reserves need to be divested, in eastern India. “The assets may be sold to a company which is not a competitor,” Reuters dding that the combine has 30 days to respond to the CCI’s suggestions.

Full Content: The Indian Express

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