Two symbolic developments this past month spotlight heavy building materials’ wide-ranging contributions: to urbanization across the world as well as the portfolio of an operator in the business for the long haul.
Read MoreShareholders, Feds clear Martin Marietta, TXI merger
Sources: Martin Marietta Materials, Raleigh, N.C.; U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division; CP staff
Five months of shareholder guidance and regulatory review appear to have gone according to script for Martin Marietta, which is on track to promptly consummate a merger positioning it as the largest U.S.-based aggregate, cement and ready mixed producer.
Read MoreBig Steel gives way to Bigger Aggregate on major Wall Street index
Sources: CP staff; S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, New York City
Martin Marietta Materials Inc. will gain elevated stature on Wall Street as it absorbs Texas Industries Inc., and switches spots from the Standard & Poors MidCap 400 to S&P 500 Index with one of the 20th century’s corporate icons, United States Steel Corp.—a past cement (Universal Atlas) and aggregate (Presque Isle, Mich., mega-quarry) operator in its own right.
Read MoreMARTIN MARIETTA MATERIALS CONSOLIDATES ROLES FOR NYE UPON ZELNAK RETIREMENT
Longtime Chairman of the Board Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. retired following Martin Marietta Materials’ annual shareholders meeting late last month, but remains a director. President and CEO C. Howard (Ward) Nye assumes the chairman’s post, completing a seamless and orderly succession process.
Read MoreMartin Marietta CEO Nye to succeed Chairman Zelnak
Sources: Martin Marietta Materials, Raleigh, N.C.; CP staff
Longtime Chairman of the Board Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. will retire following Martin Marietta’s annual shareholders meeting, May 22, but remain a director. President and CEO C. Howard (Ward) Nye will assume the chairman’s post, completing a seamless and orderly succession process overseen by the board.
Read MoreTo reap efficiency or sow fragmentation
Impending ownership changes of two concrete and cement businesses, one each side of the Atlantic, remind us how reasonably regulated free markets overwhelmingly trump those hamstrung by heavy-handed government agencies. Consider the investor-sanctioned Martin Marietta Materials–Texas Industries merger versus the British government-ordered creation of a portland cement, GGBF slag and ready mixed producer from the sale of existing players’ assets. The driving forces behind the transactions are the embrace or rejection of realities of a market rewarding efficiency versus fragmentation.
Read MoreMartin Marietta Materials + Texas Industries
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. and Texas Industries, Inc. announced in late January their boards’ unanimous approval of a definitive merger agreement under which Martin Marietta will acquire all outstanding shares of TXI common stock in a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction. Based at existing Raleigh, N.C., headquarters and operating under the Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. banner, the combined entity will create a market-leading supplier of aggregates and heavy building materials, with low-cost, vertically integrated aggregate and targeted cement operations.
Read MoreArgos Proceeds On Cemex-Blazed Trail
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 MoreThe flaws of antitrust laws
The ready mixed and precast concrete supply chain shows nothing out of line with vendors holding low, middle or higher double-digit national market share, as material or equipment category leaders like BASF Admixture Systems, Holcim (US) Inc., Mack Trucks Inc., McNeilus Cos. and Command Alkon Inc. illustrate.
Read More