German cement maker HeidelbergCement AG has agreed to buy Hanson for 8 billion pounds to create the world’s second-largest company in construction materials.
The cash offer of 1,100 pence per share would be the biggest takeover in the sector and creates a building materials company with a market value of $34 billion (17.2 billion pounds), leapfrogging Lafarge and challenging top-ranked Saint Gobain .
The combination of the world’s fourth-largest cement maker and biggest aggregates specialist will have revenues of around 15 billion euros (10.3 billion pounds) and more than 70,000 employees, the two firms said in a statement on Tuesday.
The deal also marks the departure from the stock market of the name Hanson, once one of the world’s largest conglomerates.
"The strategic fit has been made, and with it Heidelberg joins the global players in the segment, in terms of profitability and size," said WestLB analyst Ralf Doerper.
The deal highlights the growing attractiveness of Hanson, which produces aggregates such as crushed rock and gravel, as the sector consolidates and companies look to boost margins and market share in what is a highly fragmented industry.
"The price is high, but a company like Hanson does not come as a bargain," Heidelberg Chief Executive Bernd Scheifele said at a news conference on Tuesday. "We are the ideal match in terms of our products as well as our geography."
Heidelberg expects synergy benefits of 200 million euros by the end of 2009, mainly from overlapping operational headquarters in Britain and North America. Scheifele said the firm did not plan major job cuts.
It aims to complete the deal in the third quarter and finance it through a combination of hybrid capital issuance of up to 2 billion euros, the sale of debt and divestment of selected non-core assets. Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland have fully underwritten the acquisition facilities.
complete this news visit at : tiscali.co.uk
ADS SPACE HERE
KODE PPC ANDA
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments
Post a Comment