Sources: HeidelbergCement AG, Germany; CP staff
Debt reduction-driven HeidelbergCement has completed the sale of Irving, Texas-based Hanson Building Products Ltd. to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds, a private equity firm with Dallas, New York and Frankfurt offices. The transaction is valued at about $1.3 billion, plus a sum up to $100 million payable next year depending on the concrete, clay and steel product business’ 2015 financial performance.
“This transaction marks the completion of [our] repositioning over the last years toward core products of cement and aggregates and downstream activities of ready-mixed concrete and asphalt,” says HeidelbergCement CEO Dr. Bernd Scheifele. “At the same time, the proceeds of the transaction allow us to significantly accelerate our debt pay down. Considering this cash inflow, our net debt at the end of 2014 declines to well below €6 billion [$6.5 billion], clearly exceeding the target we committed towards the capital market.”
Hanson Building Products has 107 concrete and steel pipe, precast, concrete roof tile and clay brick operations, plus 11 distribution sites, in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. With a payroll just over 4,600, it reported 2013 sales of $1.1 billion.
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