Belgium's GBL Buys 25.6% Stake In France's Imerys For EUR1.1 Billion

Belgian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA (GBLB.BT) said late Monday it is paying EUR1.1 billion to increase its stake in French industrial minerals company Imerys (NK.FR).

The company said it is buying 25.6% in Imerys from Imerys's parent company Pargesa Holding SA (PARG.EB).

Pargesa is part of the same group as GBL.

The acquisition is at the price of EUR56.2 a share, with a coupon of EUR1.20 attached, and will increase GBL's stake in Imerys to 56.4% from 30.7%, GBL said in a statement.

The grouping within GBL of the Imerys stake doesn't alter ultimate control and doesn't imply any changes in terms of the company's strategy or listing, GBL said.

GBL said it has notified the transaction to French market regulator AMF "with a view to securing a derogation on the basis of a 'reclassification' between companies belonging to the same group."

GBL said that a fairness opinion on the acquisition was drawn up by Deutsche Bank AG (DB), which said the purchase price was fair from a financial point of view for GBL.

-By Laurence Norman, Dow Jones Newswires; 32-2471-1481; [e-mail]