Cimpor stake bought by Lafarge
Cimpor Cimentos de Portugal SA said France's Lafarge paid 4.07 eur per share for the additional 17,742,705 shares or 2.64 per cent stake it bought in the Portuguese cement maker on Monday from Cementos Molins SA. This price would value the stake at Euro 72.2m The purchase lifted Lafarge's holding to 13 per cent. Cimpor shares yesterday closed up Euro 0.08 or 1.97 per cent at Euro4.15 with 5 mlllion shares traded.
Meanwhile...Cimpor Cimentos de Portugal SA may be fined up to 30 per cent of its annual billings in Brazil if it is found guilty of participation in a price-fixing cartel there. Yesterday, SDE, the Brazilian justice ministry's antitrust body, opened administrative proceedings against Lafarge, Holcim AG, Cimpor and seven other cement companies, official news agency Agencia Brasil reported.
The probe will focus on the possible creation in 2000 of a cartel by these companies to push prices higher, Agencia Brasil reported. The probe follows a complaint by the Brazilian construction industry chamber, which saw signs of unusual movements in the cement supply market in October 2000, it said.
