1912 headquarters jona switzerland key people eric olsen ceo thomas aebischer cfo rolf soiron chairman products cement construction aggregate concrete revenue chf 21.65 billion 2010 1 operating income chf 2.619 billion 2010 1 profit chf 1.182 billion 2010 1 total assets chf 44.26 billion end 2010 1 total equity chf 21.12 billion end 2010 1 number of employees 71 000 2014 2 parent lafargeholcim website holcim.com holcim depot on the port of onehunga grounds manukau harbour auckland new zealand . holcim factory in dotternhausen baden w rttemberg germany . holcim is a swiss based global building materials and aggregates company . founded in 1912 the company expanded into france and then throughout europe and middle east during the 1920s . they expanded in the americas during the 1950s and went public in 1958 . the company continued to expand in latin america and added asian divisions during the 1970s and 1980s . a series of mergers and buyouts made holcim one of the two largest cement manufacturers worldwide by 2014 roughly tied with rival lafarge . in april 2014 the two companies agreed to a us 60 billion merger of equals . the companies merge on 10 july 2015 . 3 as of 2014 holcim does business in more than 70 different countries and employs 71 000 people . the company is the market leader in cement production in australia azerbaijan india slovakia switzerland and latin america . contents 1 overview 2 history 3 proposed merger 4 see also 5 notes and references 6 external links overview edit holcim is headquartered in jona switzerland and holds interests in more than 70 countries worldwide . they employ 71 000 people . 2 subsidiaries include st. lawrence cement canada aggregate industries the uk and holcim apasco mexico . the company s products include cement clinker concrete lime and aggregates . 3 they also offer consulting services third party research and development and land waste management services . 3 4 their largest business segment is the manufacture and distribution of cement and aggregates . 4 as of 2014 holcim s annual production capacity was 215 million tons . 3 it has a bbb credit rating according to fitch ratings with a 3.5 funds from operations to debt ratio . 5 holcim is the cement market leader in australia azerbaijan india slovakia switzerland and latin america . it is among the top few producers throughout europe north america and asia . 6 globally holcim and lafarge are the two largest producers in terms of sales as of 2014 . 7 history edit holcim was founded by adolf gygi in 1912 as aargauische portlandcementfabrik holderbank wildegg . 8 9 the original headquarters were in holderbank lenzburg district canton of aargau ca. 40 km from z rich . 8 in 1914 the company merged with rheintalischen cementfabrik r thi owned by ernst schmidheiny . schmidheiny took over leadership duties and began the company on a course of expansion . 9 in 1922 holderbank as the company was then known expanded beyond the swiss borders into france . schmidheiny continued to expand primarily by buying stakes in existing companies . by the end of the decade holderbank held stakes in belgium germany the netherlands and egypt . 9 positions in lebanon and south africa soon followed . 8 schmidheiny died in the 1930s and his sons ernst jr. and max took over the business splitting it into two divisions . ernst took over the holderbank building materials business while max oversaw the other lines . this organization scheme remained in place until the 1970s . 9 after world war ii hans gygi son of adolf gygi took over leadership . he oversaw the company during the swiss housing boom of the 1950s and as holderbank expanded into canada then throughout north and south america . the company went public in 1958 in order to raise more capital to fuel further expansion . hydroelectric projects in switzerland generated large concrete contracts offsetting losses in egypt when the country s government nationalized holderbank s factories . 9 holcim factories around the world during the early 1970s growth in brazil and mexico improved the company s bottom line . the schmidheiny brothers convinced shareholders that the company should consolidate holdings and merge with schweizerischen cement industrie gesellschaft . the combined company had annual revenue of 800 million swiss francs and established holderbank as one of the industries largest companies worldwide . the oil crisis of 1973 hit the industry hard as construction demand dried up in much of the world . strong markets in lebanon and south africa allowed holderbank to weather the storm . by 1976 revenue and profits had returned to pre crisis levels . 9 in the late 1970s and early 1980s holderbank continued its expansion in latin america and expanded into asia and spain for the first time . thomas schmidheiny took over leadership overseeing the company as in expanded into eastern europe and experienced a boom in spanish construction preceding the 1992 summer olympics . by 1986 holderbank was the world s largest cement manufacturer . in the 1990s the company consolidated its european holdings as the american market drove growth . expansion into eastern europe and russia continued . 9 in 2001 the company changed its name from holderbank financi re glaris to holcim short for holderbank ciment . 8 asia drove growth in the 2000s as the company saw more than 50 % of its business come from emerging markets . 9 in 2005 holcim purchased aggregate industries for us 4.1 billion entering the united kingdom for the first time . 2 that year the company also expanded into india by acquiring a stakes in the associated cement companies acc and ambuja cement eastern . in 2008 holcim became the largest shareholder of china s huaxin cement with a 40 % stake . in 2009 they acquired cemex australia . 9 in february 2012 bernard fontana became the first ceo of holcim that was not part of the founding families . 2 proposed merger edit main article lafargeholcim on april 7 2014 holcim and lafarge announced they had agreed to terms on a merger of equals valued at nearly 60 billion . the merger entails 10 lafarge shares being converted into 9 holcim shares . holders of 86 % of lafarge shares accepted this offer in june 2015 according to holcim meaning that the merger would proceed . 10 the new company would be based in switzerland and have a manufacturing capacity of 427 million tons a year which would vastly exceed the 227 million ton capacity of current industry leader anhui conch . 7 lafarge chief executive officer bruno lafont will lead the new company while holcim s wolfgang reitzle will be chairman . 2 executives from both companies said the deal will save the new company 1.4 billion euros us 1.9 billion annually and create the most advanced group in the building materials industry . 7 analysts said the deal could lead to further mergers within the industry and give competitors a chance to pick up assets at a bargain price . 2 see also edit holcim competitors include cemex heidelbergcement italcementi eurocement group votorantim group crh plc notes and references edit a b c d e annual report 2010 pdf . holcim . retrieved 31 march 2011 . a b c d e f patrick winters ; francois de beaupuy april 7 2014 . holcim to merge with lafarge to form biggest cement maker . bloomberg . retrieved april 9 2014 . a b c holcim ltd. company profile . yahoo . retrieved march 10 2014 . a b holcim ltd reg holn six swiss ex . business week . retrieved april 10 2014 . fitch ratings april 9 2014 . fitch affirms holcim ltd at bbb ; outlook stable . reuters . retrieved april 10 2014 . icr research october 24 2011 . corporate profile holcim . cemnet . retrieved april 10 2014 . a b c david jolly april 7 2014 . antitrust hurdles loom large for giant cement merger . new york times . retrieved april 9 2014 . a b c d about us history . holcim . retrieved april 10 2014 . a b c d e f g h i holcim history 1912 2012 . holcim . retrieved april 10 2014 . lafarge s.a. public exchange offer completed successfully . bloomberg . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to holcim . official website holcim foundation v t e swiss market index companies of switzerland abb actelion adecco credit suisse geberit givaudan holcim julius b r nestl novartis richemont roche sgs swatch group swiss re swiss life swisscom syngenta ubs zurich financial companies portal switzerland portal authority control worldcat identities viaf 147596825 gnd 10021999 8 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title holcim & oldid 743832900 categories companies of switzerlandcement companies of switzerlandcompanies established in 1912swiss brands1912 establishments in switzerlandhidden categories use dmy dates from april 2015commons category with page title same as on wikidatawikipedia articles with viaf identifierswikipedia articles with gnd identifiers navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk 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