Venezuela Buys Majority Of Lafarge Subsidiary

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's government has purchased 93.8 percent of the local subsidiary of French cement maker Lafarge SA, the Caracas Stock Exchange said Wednesday.

The state-run Corporacion Socialista Cementera bought the shares of Lafarge's Fabrica Nacional de Cementos for $247 million, the exchange said in a statement.

Officials at Lafarge's headquarters in Paris could not be reached for comment.

President Hugo Chavez's government nationalized Lafarge last year along with two other cement makers, Mexico's Cemex SAB and Holcim, based in Zurich, Switzerland. None had previously been compensated, and both Cemex and Holcim have filed for international arbitration to recover their assets.

Infrastructure Minister Diosdado Cabello said last week the government would pay Lafarge 40 percent of the agreed-upon purchase price, or $118.5 million, for its two Venezuelan subsidiaries within five days. He said it would pay the remaining 60 percent over four years without interest.

It was unclear what led to the change in plans or what would happen to the second company, Cementos Tachira, following Wednesday's deal.

Chavez's government has also nationalized major companies in the metals, oil and electricity sectors as it moves to build a socialist economy.

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