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After decades of fierce rivalry between the six sisters of cement, the elder two sisters - Lafarge and Holcim, number one and number two of the industry unveiled an all share merger of equals on April 2014, the new company proposed to be named, LafargeHolcim. As of 2012, Holcim and Lafarge were more or less similar in size, with Holcim’s market capitalisation at 21 billion euros and Lafarge’s at 18 billion euros. They each had an enterprise value - which includes debt as well as equity - at around 10 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). Holcim founded in 1912, was present in 70 countries, with 78000 employees with a turnover of 16.2 billion Euros. Lafarge founded in 1833, was present in 64 countries, 65000 employees, 1570 production sites, with a turnover of 15.8 billion euros. The merger, if successful would create an European building materials giant with a total of 32 billion euros in revenue and a market cap of 40 billion euros and amortisation of 6.5 billion euros. The HQ of merged business will be based in Switzerland and listed in Zurich and Paris. However, in share-price terms, Lafarge enjoyed a more expensive valuation with a price-to-earnings ratio of around 33 versus Holcim’s 20.5. Going by the history of mega-mergers, the analysts had a lot of questions about the deal the most straight forward one was whether this cross-border mega-merger would be successful or not?