Holcim and Lafarge agreed to nominate Eric Olsen to lead their combined operation as they seek to overcome lingering opposition from some shareholders to their planned merger.

The boards of both cement companies approved the appointment of Mr Olsen, who is Lafarge’s executive vice president of operations, as chief executive officer, Lafarge said in an e- mailed statement.

The companies needed to find a CEO candidate after Holcim demanded changes to an initial agreement that would have installed Lafarge chief Bruno Lafont as head of the new entity. Holcim questioned the ability of the French executive to reach savings targets after Lafarge's results trailed those of its Swiss merger partner.

Mr Olsen, who has both French and US nationality, joined Lafarge in 1999. The executive, who started his career at consulting firm Deloitte and Touche, holds a degree in finance and accounting from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the HEC business school in Paris. Mr Olsen was one of two candidates to lead the new entity, with Lafarge chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Gauthier being the other contender, two people with knowledge of the matter said last month.

Bloomberg