Lafarge, the world’s top cement-maker, said Monday it will buy Egypt’s Orascom Cement for 8.8 billion euros (12.9 billion dollars) in a deal that boosts the French company’s position in the booming Middle East construction sector.

“The acquisition of a leading Egyptian group is a decisive opportunity to accelerate our profitable growth strategy in cement in emerging markets,” said Lafarge chairman and chief executive Bruno Lafont.

The Lafarge share price shot up on the Paris stock exchange after the deal was announced. It was the CAC 40 index’s top winner, up 10.71 percent by midday at 119.20 euros.

The deal, which Lafarge said it would complete by the first quarter of 2008, means that 65 percent of Lafarge’s income will come from emerging markets in 2010 against 45 pecent this year, Lafont said.

The company will do more deals in high-growth emerging markets in the coming years, he added.

Lafarge said it would finance the deal with 6.0 billion euros in debt and a 2.8-billion-euro capital increase reserved to Nassef Sawiris, Orascom’s chief executive and majority shareholder.