Scancem sells Finnsementti and Lohja Rudus operations to CRH

Scancem sells Finnsementti and Lohja Rudus operations to CRH The Scancem Group has signed a binding agreement with CRH plc, the Irish international building materials group, to divest Finnsementti Oy Ab and Lohja Rudus Oy Ab for SEK 3,550 million. The transaction is expected to close before the end of July 1999 subject to the necessary regulatory approvals. In 1998, Finnsementti and Lohja Rudus had combined profit before tax of approximately SEK 360 million and sales of SEK 2,200 million. The capital gain for Scancem will be approximately SEK 1.7 billion before tax. Finnsementti operates only in Finland while Lohja Rudus also is active in Estonia, Latvia, Poland and the St. Petersburg area in Russia. On May 3 1999, Heidelberger Zement and CBR announced an agreement with Skanska and Aker RGI to purchase all of their shareholding in Scancem. Heidelberger Zement and CBR had furthermore agreed to launch a tender offer of the remaining outstanding Scancem shares after closing on the same conditions. The final price that Heidelberger Zement and CBR will pay for Scancem shares has been adjusted to SEK 395,37 per A share and SEK 376,31 per B share (after the payment under the terms of the contract with Skanska and Aker RGI of the proposed SEK 12 dividend). CRH plc. manufactures and supplies a broad range of building products from primary materials as well as manufactured products. The turnover for 1998 amounted to SEK 47 billion and the number of employees is 30.000. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/05/10/19990510BIT00030/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/05/10/19990510BIT00030/bit0002.pdf