Lafarge's minority shareholders block near $840 million deal

Minority shareholders of cement producer Lafarge Malaysia Berhad on Monday voted down a plan to enter into recurrent related party transactions (RPT) worth about 3.5 billion ringgit ($837.92 million) with YTL Cement Berhad. The proposal was rejected by 76% of the shareholders, according to a filing by Lafarge on Bursa Malaysia. The planned RPTs would have allowed Lafarge to deal with YTL on the sale and purchase of construction materials such as clinker, cement and pulverised ash, and also fees for services and rental of properties in Johor and Singapore, according to a circular sent out to shareholders.