Merger and acquisition activity is off to a rapid clip in 2014, as a second year of broad-based housing starts kicks in, construction materials production assets recover from recession-skewed valuations, and major domestic and international operators stake claim to new markets, or rethink their scope.
Read MoreTag: Argos
Lafarge retreats from Maryland-D.C. market in Bluegrass Materials deal
Sources: Lafarge Group, Paris; Bluegrass Materials, Jacksonville, Fla.; CP staff
Lafarge North America’s pull back from key U.S. positions continues with the planned sale of Baltimore and western Maryland aggregates businesses to a four-year-old company backed by members of Florida Rock Industries’ founding family.
Read MoreArgos USA, Chaney inaugurate ISO 9000-modeled program
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s newest certification program is a Quality Management System (QMS) aligned with ISO 9000 standards and suited to ready mixed producers aiming to supplant prescriptive concrete specifications with performance-based alternatives.
Read MoreSummit Materials closes on Westroc, Lafarge Wichita assets
Sources: Summit Materials, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
Ending a one-year drought of announced concrete and aggregate deals, Summit Materials has acquired Utah’s Westroc Inc. and certain Lafarge North America assets in Kansas.
Read MoreBlue Circle legacy fades as Lafarge NA unloads Georgia quarries
Sources: CP staff; Bluegrass Materials Co., Jacksonville, Fla.; Vulcan Materials Co., Birmingham, Ala.
Lafarge North America’s sale of its Georgia quarries-four to Bluegrass Materials, two to Vulcan Materials-marks a retreat from the Southeast and Blue Circle America assets parent company Lafarge Group placed under its control the past 12 years.
Read More$446M Lafarge NA asset deal yields Eagle Materials Great Plains platform
Sources: Eagle Materials Inc., Dallas; Lafarge Group, Paris; CP staff
By Don Marsh
Eagle Materials is projecting a November or December closing on Lafarge North America properties in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma: eight ready mixed concrete plants, two aggregate quarries plus a fly ash distribution business strategic to Kansas City; Sugar Creek, Mo., and Tulsa, Okla., cement mills; and six cement terminals in the four states. In the 12 months leading up to June 30, 2012, the operations logged $178 million in revenue.
Read MoreRocky Mountain ready mixed market materializes for Martin Marietta
Sources: CP staff; Martin Marietta Materials, Raleigh, N.C.; Lafarge North America, Reston, Va.
An asset swap with Lafarge North America will net Martin Marietta a major metro-Denver presence, including 10 ready mixed and six aggregate operations, plus nine asphalt production or road-building office/equipment sites.The properties figure to join Martin Marietta West Group’s Western Division, with two Wyoming and four Nebraska quarries. The transaction adds a third West Group state, alongside Arkansas and Texas, where the company has integrated ready mixed and aggregate production.
Read MoreLafarge SE deal consolidates Argos’ Carolinas-to-Texas footprint
Sources: Cementos Argos, Medellin; Lafarge Group, Paris
By Don Marsh
Argos officials cite a significant presence across the Southeast on the heels of a $760 million transaction spanning Lafarge North America assets in the region: 79 ready mixed plants in Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana; Harleyville, S.C., and Roberta, Ala., cement plants, plus Atlanta-area clinker grinding mill; and, six cement terminals (five rail, one port).
Read More