Competition Bureau, with conditions, gives approval to Holcim/ Lafarge merger + MORE May 5th

OTTAWA – The federal Competition Bureau says it has given its approval, with conditions, to the takeover of Lafarge S.A. by Holcim Ltd. in a deal that will merge the world’s two largest cement companies.
In a statement issued late Monday, the Competition Bureau said it had reached a consent agreement that will see Holcim sell all of its Canadian operations and all associated assets.
Under the agreement, Holcim will also sell one cement plant and five cement terminals in the United States.
“The sale of the U.S. cement plant is required to allow the Canadian assets to run effectively as a stand-alone business once they are no longer associated with other Holcim assets,” the bureau said in a statement.
The agreement requires Holcim to sell the assets to a single purchaser or in two packages to two purchasers.
The first package includes two cement terminals in Edmonton and Lethbridge, Alta., along with a cement plant in Three Forks, Mont., which the bureau said was essential to Holcim’s operations in Alberta…

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Holcim and Lafarge have agreed to sell cement plants, distribution terminals and other assets in order to complete their merger, which will make the world’s largest cement company.
The Federal Trade Commission said Monday the combination of the two companies would have reduced competition for portland cement, a component of concrete, in 12 U.S. cities and areas. It also would have reduced competition for a specialty type of cement called slag cement in the Mid-Atlantic and Western Great Lakes regions.
In order to gain FTC backing for the deal, Lafarge will sell its Continental Cement business along with a cement plant, a quarry and some distribution assets, while Holcim will sell several cement plants and distribution terminals.
The companies did not say how much revenue they receive from the businesses that are being divested. Lafarge said Denver-based Summit Materials Inc. would buy one cement plant in Iowa and seven terminals along the Mississippi river for $450 million…

SYDNEY – Australia’s central bank on Tuesday cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low of 2 per cent in a bid to jolt the nation’s economy which is weighed by falling commodity prices and weakening demand from China.
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s quarter percentage point rate cut was the first in three months.
Before the last cut in February, the interest rate had been steady at 2.5 per cent since August 2013.
Economists largely anticipated the move, although some thought the bank would hold off until after the government released its budget next week for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Resource-rich Australia managed to avoid a recession during the global financial crisis thanks to a decade-long mining boom. But with the economy weakening in China, which is Australia’s largest export market, prices for commodities such as iron ore and coal have dropped.
RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement the global economy was expanding at a moderate pace, but commodity prices have declined over the past year, in some cases sharply…

In-house pension fund manager Bimcor, which has more than $19-billion in assets, is being folded into BCE’s internal treasury and finance team in Montreal

Technology is changing the game for small investors. Here’s hoping that regulation doesn’t derail progress.