Republic Cement to merge with units

Lafarge SA’s Republic Cement Corp. will be merging with three of its units in order to simplify its legal structure and make operations more efficient. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Republic said the merger will include its subsidiaries Fortune Cement Corp., FR Cement Corp., and Lloyds Richfield Industrial Corp. “The merger will further simplify the legal structure and makes for positive synergy among the companies, providing cost efficiencies and improvements… (and) allowing for the efficient sharing of substantial spare equipment, machinery and materials…" Republic said. The proposed merger, the company said, will involve the issuance of Republic common shares to the minority shareholders of Fortune Cement and FR Cement at the exchange rate of 0.89 Republic share for every Fortune Cement share, and 38.63 Republic shares for every FR Cement share. Republic owns 99.24 percent of Fortune Cement, 98.86 percent of FR Cement, and 100 percent of Lloyds Richfield.-GMANews.TV