CRH plc (“CRH”) announced today that it has entered into a binding commitment to acquire certain assets from Lafarge S.A. (“Lafarge”) and Holcim Ltd (“Holcim”) for an enterprise value of EUR 6.5bn. The acquisition takes place in the context of the planned merger of Holcim and Lafarge. The worldwide lead legal adviser to CRH plc. was Arthur Cox, Ireland, while Mușat & Asociații was legal adviser on the Romanian jurisdiction, part of the acquisition. Completion is expected for mid-2015.
Holcim and Lafarge are disposing assets in France, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, the Philippines and Brazil.
CRH manufactures and distributes a diverse range of products servicing the breadth of construction needs. CRH is a leading international player in its industry, with operations in 34 countries worldwide. It is the largest building materials company in North America, a regional leader in Europe and has a growing presence in the Asian economies of India and China.
Musat & Asociatii’s legal team comprised 30 lawyers specialized in various areas of practice such as Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate & Commercial, Banking & Finance, Environment, Labour & Employees Benefits or Intellectual Property, and was coordinated by Mona Muşat (Managing Partner), Monia Dobrescu (Partner) and Crina Ciobanu (Managing Associate). Muşat & Asociaţii provided an extensive due-diligence analysis regarding all the assets and companies of Lafarge subject to the transaction, as well as legal assistance during all stages up to closing.
About MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII
MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII is one of the first law firms established in Romania after January 1, 1990. With 19 partners and over 100 attorneys and advisors, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII provides legal advisory services in all areas of business law, including Mergers & Acquisitions, Privatization, Banking, Energy & Natural Resources, Competition, Corporate, Telecommunications & IT, Labor, Fiscal, Capital Markets, Real Estate, Environmental, Litigations & Commercial Arbitrations.
Renowned as one of the pillars of business law practice in Romania, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII is constantly recommended by the international legal guides and publications (such as Chambers & Partners, International Financial Law Review, Legal 500, Practical Law Company etc.) as a leading law firm in Romania, many of its attorneys being, in their turn, nominated by these publications among the elite of business law in Romania.
In april 2013, Muşat & Asociaţii won the „The Law Firm of the Year in Romania” award granted by the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) during the IFLR European Awards ceremony, held in London, in the presence of more than 200 representatives of the leading European law firms. This is the second time in the past three years that Muşat & Asociaţii is granted this prestigious award, after the distinction received in 2011, when Romania was included for the first time on the list of countries nominated for the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) awards.
In 2012, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII won the Gold Award for “Best Law Firm in Central and Eastern Europe”, an accolade awarded by the 2012 International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards, for excellent results obtained on the Romanian market by the MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII team, both with regard to the mandates portfolio in the Mergers & Acquisitions area of practice, and to the management strategy adopted.
Furthermore, the renowned publication Chambers Europe awarded the trophy "Romanian Law Firm of the Year" to MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII for being the law firm with the best performance in the course of last year in Romania, in the ceremony “Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence 2011”.
MUSAT & ASOCIATII regularly provides legal advisory services to many of the most renowned and valued corporations in Romania, including a third of the Top 100 and half of the Top 500 largest companies, as well as to local public and financial institutions in intricate corporate and financial transactions and complex dispute resolution procedures. The company’s portfolio comprises over 2,500 clients, most of which are foreign investors, such as: Enel SpA, GDF Suez, Colas, European Investment Bank, RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), ING Bank, Fortis Bank, KBC Bank, Banca Transilvania, BNP Paribas, OTP Bank, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Roche, Abbot, General Electric, General Motors, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Google, AON, Amazon.com, AT&T, Nokia, Alcatel - Lucent, Telecom Italia, Thyssen Krupp, Generali, AFI Europe, Electrolux, Caterpillar, Monsanto, Deutsche Bahn, SAB Miller, etc.
