Birmingham-based Lafarge Tarmac is to take control of construction materials firm Tarmac Building Products (TBP) from multi-national mining conglomerate Anglo American for an undisclosed sum.
Terms of the transaction are confidential and the deal will now be subject to regulatory approvals. TBP has been on the market for acquisition for several years.
The process is in the hands of the competition authorities.
Firstly, Lafarge Tarmac will make a filing with the Office of Fair Trading, which will either approve the transaction or refer it to the Competition Commission for further consideration.
If the OFT approves the transaction it is likely to be completed in early 2014, whereas the Competition Commission process would most likely take an additional six months.
Both TBP and Lafarge Tarmac operations will continue to operate independently until such approvals are obtained.
TBP is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of heavy building materials, and produces products such as blocks, mortar, bagged aggregates and bagged cement.
Until 2010, it was part of the Tarmac Group, and this heritage - brand, culture, locations and product range – complements Lafarge Tarmac’s existing business.
The decision to sell TBP is in line with Anglo American’s strategy to focus on its core mining portfolio. The firm has around 800 employees across the UK, and shares offices with Lafarge Tarmac at Ettingshall and Buxton.
Cyrille Ragoucy, chief executive of Lafarge Tarmac, said: “TBP offers a close fit with our existing business, which will add value for us and our customers, while also securing TBP’s long term future. The deal will also open up new opportunities for Lafarge Tarmac particularly in the house-building sector.”
