Votorantim, one of Latin America’s largest conglomerates, is understood to be planning a bid for a package of businesses being offloaded by Holcim and Lafarge, the Swiss and French cement giants, in an effort to seal a £32bn mega-merger.
The disposals are expected to attract offers from other big players, including Ireland’s CRH and Heidelberg. The sell-off, valued at between £4bn and £5.5bn, has also caught the eye of big private equity houses, which have formed several consortiums to launch bids.
Votorantim has assets in finance, energy, steel, pulp and paper. It was started in 1919 and is controlled by the fourth generation of the founding De Moraes family.
Its cement manufacturing arm, Votorantim Cimentos, is among the 10 largest in the world, with more than 30 factories including in the US Turkey, India and China.
The Lafarge-Holcim merger, unveiled in April, would bring together the world’s top two cement-makers to create a new industry giant with annual sales of $44bn (£27bn). The deal is designed to cut costs, reduce debt and help weather spiralling energy prices. They are looking to slim down activities to appease regulators. The operations being shed employ 10,000 workers and generate about €3.5bn (£2.34bn) in sales.
A Votorantim spokesman declined to comment.
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