Holcim's no.2 investor still asking for better terms in Lafarge merger - source

ZURICH/PARIS (Reuters) - Holcim's (HOLN.VX) second-biggest shareholder is still seeking better terms in the Swiss firm's proposed merger with Lafarge (LAFP.PA), despite the cement maker's chairman saying the company was open to giving it a seat on the combination's board.

In an effort to keep the merger on course, the two companies last month revised terms to meet key demands of Holcim shareholders.

But Russian businessman Filaret Galchev, who owns a 10.8 percent stake in Zurich-based Holcim via Eurocement Holding AG, is still seeking a further improvement to the deal's exchange ratio of nine Holcim shares for 10 Lafarge, a Eurocement source said.

This is despite Holcim Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle telling Bloomberg on Wednesday that Holcim is open to giving Eurocement a seat on the merged company's board.

"You can assume that we are speaking with all shareholders and also with him," Reitzle told Bloomberg, referring to Galchev's Eurocement. "It would be beneficial to have him in the board as he would bring in lots of expertise from the cement sector."

The comments were confirmed by a Holcim spokesman.

The Eurocement source said a seat on the board would be of interest but would not be enough. "What we ask for is a better exchange ratio," the source said.

A Eurocement source first told Reuters on Monday that it wanted a better deal for Holcim investors in the planned merger with France's Lafarge.

Reitzle also said the future CEO of the combined company would be named in the next two weeks.

He excluded re-opening the negotiations with Lafarge on the share-exchange ratio or paying a special dividend to Holcim shareholders to win them over to the deal.

Holcim shareholders, some of whom remain sceptical of the cement industry mega-merger, must ratify the deal at a shareholder meeting on May 8.

(Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Oliver Hirt in Zurich, with Leila Abboud in Paris; Editing by David Holmes)