Lafarge and Anglo American announce the completion of their 50:50 joint venture, creating the UK’s leading construction materials company

Regulatory News:

Lafarge (Paris:LG) and Anglo American announce the completion of their 50:50 joint venture which combines their cement, aggregates, ready-mix concrete, asphalt and asphalt surfacing, maintenance services, and waste services businesses in the United Kingdom. The joint venture will be known as Lafarge Tarmac and begins trading today.

Completion of the Lafarge Tarmac joint venture follows final clearance from the UK Competition Commission, predicated on the completed sale of a portfolio of Tarmac and Lafarge construction materials operations in the UK, which occurred today. The agreed sale of Tarmac’s 50% ownership interest in Midland Quarry Products is subject to a right of pre-emption in favour of Hanson Quarry Products Europe Limited and, as a result, the completion of this transaction is pending.

The Lafarge Tarmac combination is expected to generate synergies of £60 million through improving operational logistical and purchasing efficiencies and the introduction of value-added products across a wider geographic area.

Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: "We have successfully united two high quality and complementary UK businesses to create the leading UK construction materials company, with high quality assets, two experienced management teams, and a portfolio of well-recognised, innovative brands.”

Bruno Lafont, Chairman & Chief Executive of Lafarge, said: "The closing of this transaction and the creation of a new British construction materials champion reinforce Lafarge's ongoing commitment to the UK market and its efforts to continuously improve its offering to customers, as well as playing a full role in developing the infrastructure needed for a growing economy."

As announced on 23 November 2012, the Lafarge Tarmac leadership team includes Jamie Pike as Non-Executive Chairman, Cyrille Ragoucy as CEO and Guy Young as CFO.

Notes to editors:

Lafarge Tarmac Limited represents a joint venture with a leading portfolio of construction materials assets in the UK, which comprises of over 330 operational and functional locations in total: four cement plants and one integrated lime and cement plant with an associated rail depot network, 152 aggregates quarries, 81 fixed ready-mix concrete plants (excluding mobiles), 75 asphalt plants, a range of joint venture interests with third parties as well as a significant waste service business.

Located in 64 countries with 68,000 employees, Lafarge is a world leader in building materials, with top-ranking positions in its Cement, Aggregates & Concrete businesses. In 2011, Lafarge posted sales of 15.3 billion euros. Since 2010, the Lafarge Group has been part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the first global sustainability benchmark, in recognition of its sustainable development actions. With the world’s leading building materials research facility, Lafarge places innovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction and architectural creativity. Additional information is available at www.lafarge.com

Anglo American is one of the world’s largest mining companies, is headquartered in the UK and listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. Anglo American’s portfolio of mining businesses spans bulk commodities – iron ore and manganese, metallurgical coal and thermal coal; base metals – copper and nickel; and precious metals and minerals – in which it is a global leader in both platinum and diamonds. Anglo American is committed to the highest standards of safety and responsibility across all its businesses and geographies and to making a sustainable difference in the development of the communities around its operations. The company’s mining operations, extensive pipeline of growth projects and exploration activities span southern Africa, South America, Australia, North America, Asia and Europe. www.angloamerican.com