The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide up to 17 million euros to help Belgium's Carmeuse Group, a leading lime producer, expand its operations in Central and Eastern Europe. The operations funded by EBRD include the acquisition of Romanian lime maker Var Fieni, the bank's representatives say.
"The bank (EBRD i.e.) is investing up to 10 million euros for a 25 percent stake in Carmeuse Eastern Europe, a holding company created to consolidate and operate Carmeuse's existing three businesses in Romania. The capital will help the new company acquire Var Fieni, a lime facility in Romania, from Germany's HeidelbergCement," EBRD officials say. "The bank will also invest up to 10 million euros to help Carmeuse Eastern Europe expand its business elsewhere in the region through acquisitions or start-ups. The combined figure will not exceed 17 million euros," EBRD representatives added.
EBRD's involvement and support to Carmeuse will help the company support local economies through investment and job creation, according to Olivier Descamps, Business Group Director for Southern and Eastern Europe at the EBRD. The project is likely to benefit other local industries that rely on lime, such as steel, pulp and paper, construction, and agriculture.
Carmeuse Eastern Europe is to acquire lime producer Var Fieni in a deal sources on the market estimate to about 7 million euros. The Belgians will therefore consolidate their position as leaders of the free lime market in Romania due to their four factories, while the Germans at HeidelbergCement will conclude the exit of cement producers from the lime business. Actually, three of Carmeuse's four lime facilities in Romania were sold by HeidelbergCement.
Carmeuse, a 850 million euro business in 2003, entered Romania in 1999 when it bought a local lime maker, Cedru & Melon Campulung. adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro
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