Lafarge Building Materials Inc history

Acquisitions, Restructuring, and a Move: 1986--87

Lafarge purchased a plant from the National Gypsum Company in early-1987.

Effective January 1988, CCL changed its name to Lafarge Canada Inc. in recognition of the growth of its construction materials business as well as its cement operations, and General Portland was merged into the company.

In 1989 it acquired seven subsidiaries of the Standard Slag Holding Company, becoming one of the largest aggregate producers in the United States.

In 1991, despite a downturn in the construction industry, Lafarge Corporation added the Missouri Portland Cement Company and Davenport Cement Company, expanding Lafarge's presence along the Mississippi River.

In mid-1992 Robert Murdoch resigned, and Michel Rose, a Lafarge Coppée executive, assumed the positions of president and CEO.

Lafarge Corporation reorganized again in 1993, consolidating its operations into three cement regions and three construction materials regions, and began selling off its assets in Texas and Alabama.

By 1994 nearly all of its 15 full-production cement plants were increasingly recycling industrial byproducts to use as raw materials in making their cement.

Redland, one of the world's leading producers of aggregates and ready-mix concrete, in 1997,

The company's 1998 acquisitions, combined with the strong construction economy, boosted net income of 29 percent over the previous year, and revenues of 33 percent to $2.45 billion, a new high for Lafarge Corporation.

Through its Canadian subsidiary, the company purchased another wallboard manufacturing plant and gypsum quarry, a manufacturer of joint compounds, and, in January 1999, announced it would build a fourth wallboard plant, a $90 million facility in Kentucky.

In 2001, Lafarge, then the world’s second largest cement manufacturer, acquired Blue Circle Industries (BCI), which at the time was the world’s sixth largest cement manufacturer, to become the world leader in cement manufacturing.

In 2006, Lafarge North America shareholders accepted a $3 billion tender offer from Lafarge Group which gave the parent company full control over the North American business, removing LNA from the New York Stock Exchange.

In December 2007, Lafarge announced the purchase of the Orascom Cement Group, an Egyptian based cement producer with operations across Africa and the Middle East, fromOrascom Construction Industries (OCI).

Lafarge led a significant International expansion with new operations in Sub-Saharan and East Africa as well as in China, India, and South Korea.● 2008: Acquisition of Orascom Cement.

In 2010, Lafarge strengthened its presence in Brazil (agreement with Lafarge and STRABAG to create a common company in Cement in Central Europe).

In 2011, Lafarge SA announced it would build a cement plant in Langkat, North Sumatra, Indonesia with investment up to Rp 5 trillion ($585 million).

In April 2013, Lafarge adopted a new brand baseline “Building better cities”. It reflects the Group’s ambition to contribute to the improvement of cities by developing innovative construction products, solutions and systems.

2014: Holcim and Lafarge announced their merger project.

LafargeHolcim was born of the merger of equals by Lafarge and Holcim in 2015.

Publications »Full Year 2020 micrositeResults and presentationsAnnual and interim reportsArchives »Lafarge archivesHolcim archivesMerger documents