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Empresas y finanzas

Lafarge, Holcim name Eric Olsen as chief of merged group


    ZURICH/PARIS (Reuters) - Lafarge and Holcim have picked Lafarge insider Eric Olsen as chief executive of their combined company, potentially opening the way for the two cement groups to clinch their $40 billion merger, if shareholders back it next month.

    The CEO role was a major sticking point when the tie-up between the French and Swiss companies came close to collapse in March. The two groups eventually agreed new terms to satisfy discontented HOLCIM (HOLN.CH)shareholders, but the top job remained a problem.

    Since the deal was announced last April, Holcim investors had watched the companies' relative business performances diverge. A stronger Swiss franc also became a factor, along with questions over the management style and record of Bruno Lafont, LAFARGE (LG.PA)CEO, who was to be CEO of the merged company.

    One shareholder, U.S. mutual fund Harris Associates, for example, was holding back on giving its approval on the deal until a decision was reached on who would lead the company.

    The two groups have agreed that Lafont will become co-chairman with Holcim's Wolfgang Reitzle instead of CEO as initially planned.

    Olsen, a 16-year veteran at Paris-based Lafarge, was backed by the boards of both companies as CEO after Holcim's board met on Wednesday.

    Olsen, 51, an American and French citizen, joined Lafarge in 1999 and now works as its executive vice-president for operations, responsible for countries including France, the United States, Brazil and Egypt.

    Holcim chairman Reitzle told a news conference in Zurich on Thursday the company needed to do more to convince shareholders of the merger's advantages before a meeting to vote on the deal in early May. But he was sure the transaction would be pushed through.

    "We're confident that we will win sufficient votes for the deal," Reitzle said.

    Shares in Holcim were up 2.3 percent at 0519 ET, making it the second strongest performer on Switzerland's blue-chip index . Lafarge shares were up 2.8 percent.

    The merger would be the cement industry's biggest-ever tie-up and create a group with combined sales of more than $40 billion.

    (Reporting by Leila Abboud in Paris and Oliver Hirt in Zurich; Writing by Joshua Franklin and Alice Baghdjian. Editing by Jane Merriman)