CRH bids for €5bn assets offered by merging rivals
Other interested groups include Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, according to sources.
Blackstone has teamed up with Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, while CVC made a bid with Singapore’s sovereign-wealth fund GIC.
CRH, the Dublin-based building-materials company, also made a bid for most of the assets.
The winner of the portfolio, which is valued at about €5bn, may be announced as soon as next month.
Spokesmen for Paris-based Lafarge and Swiss-firm Holcim declined to comment, as did representatives for Blackstone, CVC, Cinven, CPPIB and CRH.
The Swiss and French cement makers are seeking to divest businesses to ensure regulatory approval for the deal. The companies expect the €34bn merger, agreed on in April 2014, to be completed in the first half of this year.
