Lafarge, a subsidiary of cement maker Holcim, is set to face trial in France for allegedly financing terrorism and violating European sanctions to keep its Syrian plant running, according to France's anti-terrorism prosecutor and a lead plaintiff.

Lafarge has been the subject of an investigation into its operations in Syria since 2016, one of the most extensive corporate criminal proceedings in recent French legal history.

Investigative judges in Paris gave the order for Lafarge to face trial on Wednesday.

In a statement to Reuters on Thursday, Lafarge said it acknowledged the decision of the investigating judges.

Holcim shares fell nearly 2% in late Wednesday trading after the news, before recovering a little to close 0.7% lower.

Investigations continue into allegations that Lafarge was complicit in crimes against humanity, part of the wider probe into how the group kept its factory running in Syria after war broke out in 2011, said the anti-corruption group Sherpa, which brought the criminal complaint against Lafarge.

France's highest court in January rejected a request from Lafarge that charges of complicity in crimes against humanity be dropped from the investigation.

The sanctions breach charges relate to a European ban on financial or commercial links to the Daesh terrorist group, Sherpa said.

In a separate investigation in the United States, Lafarge admitted in 2022 that its Syrian subsidiary paid groups designated by Washington as terrorists, including Daesh, to help protect staff at the plant in a country shaken by years of civil war.