Algerian-Canadian Sofiane Benmaghnia, 39, will be the new CEO of cement producer Holcim Romania starting April 1.

He will replace Francois Petry, who took over as CEO of Aggregates Industries, the British subsidiary of the newly formed LafargeHolcim group.

Sofiane Benmaghnia joined LafargeHolcim in 1999 as a financial analyst. Since then, he has built his career within the group, working in several markets where LafargeHolcim operates (North America, Middle East, Africa and Europe). He has an experience of over 16 years in the cement industry.

He has been the CEO of Meftah Cement Operations, Aggregates & Concrete in Algeria since 2011. Before that, he was Chief Financial Officer of Lafarge Concrete and Aggregates in the Middle East for three years.

Sofiane is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant and has a degree in Commerce from the University of Tunisia. He also holds a certification in managerial accounting from the Concordia University in Montreal, and an executive MBA from the Sherbrooke University in Canada.

Holcim Romania has two cement factories, in Campulung and Alesd, and some 800 employees. The company had sales of EUR 217 million and a net profit of EUR 16 million in 2014.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com