Lafarge Corporation, one of North America’s largest diversified supplier of construction materials, has completed a previously announced merger with The Warren Paving & Materials Group Limited after receiving necessary approvals from the Competition Bureau of Canada. As part of an agreement reached with the Bureau, Lafarge will divest certain assets in Edmonton, Alberta, and the Fraser Valley of British Columbia.

Toronto-based Warren, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kilmer Van Nostrand Co. Limited (KVN), is Canada’s largest privately held supplier of construction aggregate and a leading supplier of asphalt and paving services.

Already one of the largest aggregate suppliers in North America, Lafarge will gain nearly 20 million tons of annual sales volume. This will put the company’s annual aggregate production at over 100 million tons a year, more than double the sales volume of just three years ago.

“Lafarge has been aggressively expanding its aggregates business through acquisitions and internal development, because we believe that infrastructure spending — a significant demand driver — will continue to trend higher in both Canada and the United States,” said John Piecuch, president and CEO of Lafarge Corporation.

The two entities first announced the merger plan on July 25, 2000. Closing took place on Dec. 29 and the integration of the operations began on Jan. 1, 2001.

The Warren businesses had estimated sales in excess of $960 million in 2000. They include 23 aggregate operations and 55 asphalt plants in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. Warren owns or has rights to reserves in excess of 1.2 billion tons of crushed stone, sand and gravel, and produces approximately 19.3 million tons of aggregate per year. In addition, the company produces 4.6 million tons of paving materials for highway and street construction across Canada.