Lafarge may sell Cimpor stake to Votorantim-report

SAO PAULO Feb 3 (Reuters) - France's Lafarge (LAFP.PA), the world's biggest cement producer, is close to selling its 17.3 percent stake in Portuguese cement producer Cimpor (CPR.LS) to Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim, O Estado de S. Paulo reported on Wednesday, without saying how it obtained the information.

Cimpor is already the target of a takeover bid by Brazilian steelmaker CSN (CSNA3.SA)(SID.N). Cimpor's board of directors rejected the CSN bid last month and investors are betting that it will end up sweetening its offer.

Under the deal Votorantim would give Lafarge, which already has six factories in Brazil, another four facilities in exchange for the Cimpor stake, Estado said.

Votorantim is the largest diversified industrial conglomerate in Brazil and also the biggest cement maker in the South American country.

Votorantim is also negotiating with Cimpor shareholder Caixa Geral de Depositos the purchase of a 9.6 percent stake in Cimpor, the newspaper said. Votorantim is not attempting to win control of Cimpor, unlike CSN, Estado said.

Brazilian antitrust regulators at the Justice Ministry are concerned Votorantim's move might be "defensive," Estado said, adding that such moves would block an increase in competition in the domestic cement market.

Cimpor, one of the 10 top cement producers in the world, is the fourth-largest maker of the material in Brazil and would help CSN improve its position significantly in the local market, Estado said.

A spokeswoman for Votorantim in Sao Paulo declined to comment on the report. A spokeswoman for Lafarge in Paris was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by David Holmes)