Eric Olsen appointed chief of Lafarge-Holcim as cement groups mix

Eric Olsen has been appointed the first chief executive of a combined Holcim and Lafarge, as the two cement groups attempt to draw a line under a turbulent few weeks in which their €41bn tie-up came close to collapse.

According to a joint statement on Thursday, both companies have approved the selection of the French-American manager, who has worked for Lafarge since 1999 and is currently executive vice-president of operations.

Mr Olsen's nomination follows demands from major shareholders that the job should go to someone with an international background who has the power to unite the two rival groups and push through a difficult deal.

Tensions between the two companies flared up last month, following a campaign by Holcim to prevent Lafarge chief executive Bruno Lafont from taking the top executive role at the combined group.

Conflict between the French Mr Lafont and the management of Swiss group Holcim developed in the course of the past year, according to people close to the companies, and was partly blamed on cultural differences in management style.

After a string of late-night negotiations, where the deal was more than once near collapse, Mr Lafont last month agreed to become co-chairman of the combined company instead, alongside with Holcim chairman Wolfgang Reitzle. They agreed that a new chief executive candidate would be chosen by Lafarge and agreed by Holcim.

People close to the talks said that Mr Olsen had been chosen partly for his international experience, but also because of his knowledge of the industrial, financial and human resources side of the business.

Mr Olsen graduated from Colorado University and the HEC School of Management in Paris and started his career working at the consultancy Deloitte & Touche. In 1999 he was recruited by the US subsidiary of Lafarge, where he became chief financial officer in 2004. He helped to guide the company as it was delisted from the stock exchange and became executive vice-president of operations in 2013.

In his new role, Mr Olsen will not only have to marry two sprawling companies with very different corporate cultures, but also achieve €1.4bn worth of synergies from the deal - a number that has been questioned by many analysts.

One remaining concern is the continued opposition of minority Holcim shareholders to the deal, including Russia's Eurocement, which owns 10.6 per cent of Holcim.

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