Shareholders of Swiss cement maker Holcim paved the way for the planned merger with French rival Lafarge SA by approving a capital increase needed for the deal.

The Russian businessman Filaret Galchev, who owns a 10.8% stake in Swiss building materials group Holcim, via Eurocement Holding, has rejected the merger offer that France’s Lafarge has made for Holcim, a Swiss newspaper reported.

On Sunday afternoon a week ago, Bruno Lafont, the chief executive of Lafarge took a call from Wolfgang Reitzle, the chairman of Swiss cement company Holcim, seeking to merge with its French rival. He had bad news.

Holcim Ltd and Lafarge SA reached an agreement to adjust merger terms in an effort to salvage their bid to form the world’s biggest cement maker, leaving open the contentious point of who will be chief executive.

Holcim called a halt yesterday to its merger with Lafarge, pressing the French company to renegotiate the deal terms and putting its plan to create the world’s biggest cement maker at risk.