NRMCA members Holcim and Lafarge, the world’s two biggest cement companies, said earlier this week that they had agreed to merge. Holcim, based near Zurich, Switzerland, and Lafarge, based in Paris, rank among the market leaders in cement and related products like stone, gravel and sand. Last year, they had combined revenue of about $44 billion and adjusted pretax income of about $8.9 billion. They have a combined work force of about 135,000 employees. The companies expect the deal to close in the first half of 2015. They said it would give the combined company production sites in 90 countries, with no single country accounting for more than 10 percent of revenue.

The companies view the deal as a way to expand in faster-growing regions where lower-cost competitors pose a threat. The merger would create a company to be called LafargeHolcim. Wolfgang Reitzle, a board member at Holcim, would serve as chairman of the new company’s board. A 14-member board would include seven members from each company. LafargeHolcim is to be based in Switzerland.