The world's largest cement maker announced the sale to Colombia's Cementos Argos on Thursday, and the sale price raised expectations that Lafarge could beat its asset disposal goal.
The news came as a French newspaper reported the company's plaster activities in Europe and the United States had attracted about 10 potential buyers, including investment funds and industrial players.
Lafarge is targeting 750 million euros ($1.07 billion) of disposals this year to cut its debt by 2 billion euros, aiming to improve its financial profile after the 2007 purchase of Egyptian company Orascom Cement for 8.8 billion euros.
"We are confident that we can meet the target for disposals," Finance Director Jean-Jacques Gauthier said during Lafarge's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.
"The environment today is more favorable for us to be able to sell at the best conditions," Chief Executive Bruno Lafont added. "That wasn't the case until now, and in particular in 2010," when economies were on the mend from the effects of the global credit crisis.
Shares in Lafarge, which have suffered from concerns about the company's lowered credit rating and political turmoil in the Middle East, where it makes part of its earnings, closed 2.1 percent higher at 46.65 euros.
"A very good divestment because the uptake of the sector is very slow in the US and the price Argos paid for this type of asset is rather high," said one trader. "Moreover, this sale ... means the group could exceed its objective for asset sales."
The cement assets sold include the Harleyville cement plant in South Carolina and the Roberta cement plant in Alabama, and a cement grinding station in Atlanta. Lafarge is also selling its ready-mix concrete units in the US Southeast.
The total revenue of the divested businesses was $240 million in 2010, Lafarge said. A company spokeswoman said the businesses sold represented 10 percent of group sales in North America.
After completion of the sale, Lafarge will have 21 cement and grinding plants in North America with a total capacity of 19 million tons.
The plaster division that Lafarge is looking to sell is the company's smallest. It represented 9 percent of sales last year, with revenue of 1.4 billion euros and current operating profit of 58 million.
At the shareholder meeting, Lafarge did not comment on the plaster division. Les Echos newspaper said the company valued the European arm of the division at around 800 million euros ($1.15 billion) and the US part at about 400 million.