Holcim Acquires Calcium Carbonate Leader Nicem
Holcim has acquired Nicem, a leader in grounded calcium carbonate in Northern Italy based near Bergamo, Italy. Calcium carbonate is a highly versatile, low-carbon raw material that is useful for a broad range of applications. Nicem’s broad customer base spans industries from construction to plastic, rubber, and paints. With this acquisition, Nicem’s low-emission raw materials will accelerate the green formulation of Holcim’s sustainable building solutions, from ECOPact to ECOPlanet.
“Nicem complements our existing operations perfectly and allows us to further leverage our expertise in green formulation, opening a new source of alternative materials to decarbonize our ready-mix concrete. I look forward to welcoming the employees of Nicem to the Holcim family, whose valuable expertise will help us accelerate green growth,” said Miljan Gutovic, Region Head Europe.
The acquisition of Nicem advances Holcim’s “Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth” by further fuelling growth with bolt-ons in aggregates and ready-mix concrete businesses.
Holcim’s vision is to become the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. They structure their strategic approach around four key pillars: accelerating growth, expanding solutions & products, leading in sustainability and innovation, and delivering superior performance.
Accelerating growth
With today’s megatrends, from the rise in population and urbanization to improving living standards, the construction sector has never been more attractive. In this context, Holcim will accelerate growth across all their markets with leading profitability and cash flow.
Holcim’s profitable growth will be driven by innovative building solutions, from ECOPact green concrete to energy-efficient roofing systems. They will lead cement’s green transformation, with solutions like ECOPlanet, including the world’s first cement with 20% construction & demolition waste inside.
Holcim will further fuel the company’s growth with bolt-on acquisitions in mature markets in the aggregates and ready-mix concrete businesses. Strengthening their performance, the company will scale up digitalization across its value chain, from operations and distribution to customer experience.
Expanding solutions & products
By 2025, 30% of Holcim’s net sales will come from solutions & products. They are expanding their solutions, from roofing and insulation to advanced mortars and green retrofitting. Holcim is becoming a global leader in roofing with systems cutting across solar, cool, and green roofs. These technologies make buildings more energy-efficient in use, while enabling cooler cities with more nature inside.
Leading in sustainability and innovation
Sustainability is at the core of Holcim’s strategy. Holcim was the first in their industry to have 2050 net-zero targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) across all scopes. They are leading the circular economy by reducing waste and recycling materials across their business.
Holcim is innovating to remain at the forefront of green building solutions and driving circular construction to build better with less. Next-generation technologies such as 3D printing and pilot projects in carbon capture, utilization and storage are driving their 2050 net-zero ambitions. Holcim will continue to deploy new smart technologies as part of “Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth”.
Delivering superior performance
Holcim delivers superior financial and ESG performance with best-in-class financial KPIs and a disciplined investment strategy, centred around sustainability, to drive profitability.
Holcim will deliver these results by fostering a high-performance culture while operating at the highest level of ethics and integrity.
About Holcim
Holcim builds progress for people and the planet. As a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, Holcim is enabling greener cities, smarter infrastructure and improving living standards around the world. With sustainability at the core of its strategy Holcim is becoming a net zero company, with its people and communities at the heart of its success. The company is driving circular construction as a world leader in recycling to build more with less. Holcim is 70,000 people around the world who are passionate about building progress for people and the planet through four business segments: Cement, Ready-Mix Concrete, Aggregates and Solutions & Products.