Sika AG outlines Master Builders asset sale plan ahead of MBCC closing

Sources: Sika AG, Baar, Switzerland; CP staff In one of the final major moves to consummate its MBCC Group takeover, Sika AG has entered an agreement whereby London-based petrochemicals Giant Ineos Enterprises will acquire Master Builders Solutions concrete admixture businesses in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and Europe, along with MBCC’s complete Australia and New Zealand portfolios. The proposed transaction…

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GCP answers investor with stockholder rights plan

The board of GCP Applied Technologies Inc., Cambridge, Mass., has adopted a stockholder rights plan and declared a dividend distribution of one preferred share purchase right on each outstanding share of company common stock. The move responds to large blocks of shares changing hands during the first quarter, netting one New York hedge fund sponsor, 40 North Management LLC, a 24.6 percent ownership stake.

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MANUFACTURERS – DECEMBER 2017

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John Harris has joined the Besser Co. Technical Service team, bringing 25 years of hands-on block and brick production experience plus plant management skills. Based in Phoenix, he will be on the front line working to bring the latest technology and new equipment to manufactured-concrete producers.

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Sika AG names Schuler to succeed LafargeHolcim-bound CEO Jenisch

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A 20-year Sika AG veteran and chief executive officer since 2012, Jan Jenisch will transition in the same capacity to Swiss peer, LafargeHolcim Ltd., in mid-October. LafargeHolcim Chairman Beat Hess calls Jenisch “a CEO widely respected for consistently delivering strong business results [who] comes with a deep understanding of the building materials sector. His agile leadership style and personal skills will be a good fit with our company culture and management team.”

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The longest haul

One of the key suppliers to Switzerland’s Gotthard base tunnel bills the structure as both novelty and “remarkable achievement in engineering.” At 57 meters or 35 miles, it is the world’s longest rail tunnel; passes through one of the highest Alpine massifs; and, will reduce the time that massive freight and modern high-speed trains need to travel from Zurich to Milan by around one hour.

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L.M. Scofield paves path to premium slabs for suitor Sika

Sources: Sika AG, Baar, Switzerland; CP staff

The Swiss parent of Sika Corp. has closed on a forerunner in value-added flatwork, billing Los Angeles-based L.M. Scofield Co. as “a 100-year-old, family-owned company long established as the number one brand of concrete color additives and decorative products in North America.”

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Sika AG contests Saint-Gobain overture, maps North American market growth

More than a year after an initial overture and subsequent Swiss agency and European Commission legal proceedings, management of Baar, Switzerland-based Sika AG management remains adamantly opposed to a stock transfer to global glass and building materials giant Saint-Gobain. Sika Chairman Dr. Paul Hälg calls the transaction “unparalleled in the world” and reiterates board concerns rooted in the bid’s structure: Saint-Gobain seeks the stake of the largest shareholder “the Burkhart family” amounting to 16.1 percent of shares, but vested with 52.4 percent of voting rights. In a late-2015 letter to shareholders, he noted:

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Sika adds mortar line, boosts admixture capacity at Pennsylvania plant

Sources: Sika AG, Baar, Switzerland; CP staff

Sika Corp. has opened a new mortar products line alongside an expanded admixture facility near Philadelphia. The former is the second such investment in the past two years, and dovetails the company’s March 2015 acquisition of mortar processor and marketer BMI Products of Northern California Inc.

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Sika Corp. parent pushes back hard on glass giant’s pursuit of a controlling stake

Sources: Sika AG, Baar, Switzerland; Saint-Gobain, Paris; CP staff

A year after an initial overture and subsequent Swiss agency and European Commission legal proceedings, Sika AG management remains steadfastly opposed to a stock transfer to global glass and building materials giant Saint-Gobain. Sika Chairman Dr. Paul Hälg calls the transaction “unparalleled in the world” and reiterates board concerns rooted in the bid’s structure: Saint-Gobain seeks the stake of the largest shareholder—the Burkhart family—amounting to 16.1 percent of shares, but vested with 52.4 percent of voting rights.

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