Holcim loses 26% of value since announced Lafarge Africa sale

Holcim AG has lost about 26 percent of its market valuation since the announced sale of its shareholding in Lafarge Africa on December 1, 2024.

On December 1, when Holcim announced that it would divest from Lafarge Africa, the group was valued at a share price of CHF 90 (Swiss Francs) with a $62 billion market cap. However, exactly nine months after the announced divestment, Holcim is now trading at a share price of CHF 67 and a $46 billion market cap.

In contrast, Lafarge Africa has moved by over 124 percent. The stock has moved from N58 per share before the advent of the deal to now trading at N130 per share. The terms of the agreement valued Lafarge Africa at $1 billion based on a 100 percent equity arrangement. However, the market currently values Lafarge Africa at $1.37 billion based on its market capitalisation.

Reason for the share price drop

Although Holcim AG has lost more than a quarter of its value since the planned divestment from the Nigerian cement maker, it is not the major factor to consider. The major factor was Holcim’s spin-off of its North American operations into another independent publicly listed company called Amrize. The listing of the new company on the New York Stock Exchange was done on June 23, 2025.

Essentially, Holcim split itself into two, not just in operations, but also in valuation. On June 16, Holcim recorded a 48.37 percent drop in share price on the Swiss Exchange.

The divestment from Lafarge Africa, although still under scrutiny in the Nigerian courts, seems not to trouble the waters of the Swiss-headquartered company. In H1 2025, the group beat forecasts, coasting to a net revenue of $9.9 billion after accounting for its discontinued North American operations (Amrize).

Read More: Holcim says it has finalised divestment from Lafarge Africa – Businessday NG

At the end of 2024, Holcim noted the conclusion of its divestments from most of its sub-Saharan operations in Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, and Kenya. And on August 29, it announced the conclusion of the divestment from Nigeria, selling off its 83.8 percent stake in Lafarge Africa to Chinese cement maker, Huaxin Cement.