Lafarge and Holcim are about to request approval from the European Commission for their planned merger, Lafarge Chief Executive Bruno Lafont told reporters on Thursday.
"We are indeed very close to (EU) notification," Lafont said on the sidelines of a conference on affordable housing at Lafarge's headquarters in Paris, adding that talks with Brussels had been "constructive" and that the companies were "well on track" to close the deal in the first half of next year.
Lafarge and Holcim unveiled plans in April to create the world's biggest cement group with $44 billion in yearly sales.