Lafarge Extends Cash Tender Offer for Outstanding Minority Shares of Lafarge North America

The extension of the Offer was made at the request of the specialcommittee of the board of directors of Lafarge North America. Thespecial committee today notified the shareholders of Lafarge NorthAmerica that it has determined that it is unable at the current timeto take a position with respect to the Offer. The extension will thusprovide the special committee with additional time to develop itsposition or recommendation, if any, with respect to the Offer.

The Offer was previously scheduled to expire at midnight onMonday, New York City time, March 20, 2006. Having been extended by 10business days, the Offer now will expire at midnight on Monday, NewYork City time, April 3, 2006, unless further extended. The Offer isat a price of US$75.00 per share in cash and upon the other terms andconditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, dated February 21,2006.

Concurrently with the extension of the expiration date of theOffer, Lafarge also announced that it has extended the term of itscash offer of US$75.00 per share for all outstanding exchangeablepreference shares of Lafarge Canada Inc. (TSX: LCI), a subsidiary ofLafarge North America Inc., to midnight, New York City time, onMonday, April 3, 2006.

Lafarge North America shareholders and other interested partiesare urged to read the Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO, asamended, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents relating to thetender offer that are filed with the United States Securities andExchange Commission (the "SEC") because they contain importantinformation. Lafarge North America shareholders will be able toreceive such documents free of charge at the SEC's web site,www.sec.gov, or by contacting Innisfree M&A Incorporated, theInformation Agent for the transaction, at (877) 825-8730 for Englishspeakers, (877) 825-8777 for French speakers or (212) 750-5833 forbanks and brokers calling collect.

Notes to Editors:

Lafarge, the world leader in building materials, holds top-rankingpositions in all four of its divisions: Cement, Aggregates & Concrete,Roofing and Gypsum. Lafarge employs approximately 80,000 people in 75countries and posted sales of EUR 16 billion in 2005. Additionalinformation is available on the web site at www.lafarge.com.

Lafarge North America is one of the largest publicly tradedconstruction materials providers in North America. Lafarge NorthAmerica today is a 53.2%-owned subsidiary of Lafarge.