Recommended cash offer for Foster Yeoman

Zurich, Switzerland – Aggregate Industries Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Holcim Ltd, has
made a recommended cash offer to acquire the entire issued share capital of
Foster Yeoman Limited, the privately-held UK heavy building materials
group. This acquisition will be notified to the relevant competition
authorities.

Aggregate Industries has received irrevocable undertakings to accept the
offer in respect of, in aggregate, approximately 68.3 per cent of Foster
Yeoman’s existing issued ordinary share capital. These undertakings will
remain binding in the event of any competing offer.

Foster Yeoman owns Torr Works, a limestone quarry in England, and the
Glensanda quarry, a granite quarry in Scotland, which together have almost
1 billion tonnes of raw material reserves. Foster Yeoman’s sales activities
are supported by a network of depots across the UK and a network of sales
points at major ports in Northern and Western Continental Europe. In the
financial year ended 27 May 2005, Foster Yeoman had sales of approximately
GBP 224 million and sold more than 11 million tonnes of aggregates and
about 1.5 million tonnes of asphalt.

Holcim’s takeover of Foster Yeoman ideally rounds out Aggregate Industries’
aggregates and asphalt operations in the UK. At the same time, Holcim can
secure an attractive network in the coastal markets of Northern and Eastern
Europe. The integration of Foster Yeoman into the Holcim Group will also
reinforce the dual product strategy centering on cement and aggregates.

Holcim is one of the world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregates
(crushed stone, sand and gravel) as well as further activities such as
ready-mix concrete and asphalt including services. The Group holds majority
and minority interests in more than 70 countries on all continents.