GENEVA — The shares of Holcim Ltd. rose on Monday after the Swiss cement and building materials company announced plans to spin off its North American division and list its shares in the US.
Sunday’s announcement of the stock market listing and spinoff comes 15 months after Holcim’s French subsidiary Lafarge pleaded guilty to paying the Islamic State group millions of dollars to keep a factory open in Syria and agreed to pay about $778 million in fines to be paid in a settlement with the American authorities.
At the time, the Islamic State controlled much of Syrian territory and was engaged in the torture of kidnapped Westerners.
The listing, expected to close in the first half of next year, would create a North American unit that targets net sales of more than $20 billion by 2030, the company said. Holcim retains its listing on the Swiss SIX stock exchange.
Chairman and CEO Jan Jenisch will lead the North American operations, handing over the duties of CEO of Holcim to executive committee member Miljan Gutovic, an Australian citizen, on May 1.
In a statement, Jenisch said the US listing would “unleash” the company’s potential to be an attractive partner for customers “in one of the most attractive construction markets in the world.”
In mid-morning trading on SIX in Zurich, Holcim shares rose 4.3% to 67.02 Swiss francs (about $77.78) each, after rising as high as 67.96 francs (or almost 6%) shortly after the open increased.