Anglo and Lafarge name leadership team for UK construction JV

UK-listed mining giant Anglo American and French cement firm Lafarge have appointed the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for their proposed construction joint venture (JV) in the UK.

Even though the JV has not been formally approved yet - final clearance is still being waited on from the Competition Commission (CC) - the companies have named Jamie Pike as Non-Executive Chairman, Cyrille Ragoucy as CEO and Guy Young as CFO of the joint venture.

"The JV creates a leading UK construction materials company, with a portfolio of high quality assets drawing on the complementary geographical distribution of operations and assets, the skills of two experienced management teams and a portfolio of well-known and innovative brands," Anglo and Lafarge said in a joint statement.

"The JV's complementary geographical and product portfolios are also expected to create a business optimally positioned to benefit from economic recovery."

The companies said that the JV will start operating early next year once it has received the approval from the CC.

Anglo CEO Cynthia Carroll and Lafarge Chairman Bruno Lafont welcomed the management appointments in a statement. They said that CEO Pike "brings more than 20 years of experience from an array of industrial and manufacturing business, providing strong balance to the impressive management team drawn from both businesses."

The companies announced last week that they were selling a portfolio of UK construction material operations, one of the conditions they agreed to as part of their joint venture proposals. The assets were sold to Mittal Investments, run by the family of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, for £272m in cash.

Anglo's shares were trading 0.53% higher at 1,713.5p on Friday afternoon in London, while Lafarge gained 1.68% to €44.58 in Paris.