Australian Boral leaves US with $ 755 million sale of fly ash

December 6 (Reuters) – Australia’s leading building materials maker Boral Ltd (BLD.AX) on Monday announced it would sell its North American fly ash business for $ 755 million, marking its exit from the market then that it seeks to concentrate on its national activities.

The sale to Eco Material Technologies, which is backed by private equity firms One Equity Partners and Quadrant Management, means that Boral will have sold its US operations for a combined amount of over AU $ 4 billion (AU $ 2.80 billion). dollars).

The agreement “supports our strategy to refocus our building materials business in Australia,” said Managing Director Zlatko Todorcevski.

Boral has been selling its business in the United States since last year, as it pulls out of a seven-year global expansion strategy that saw a wave of offshore acquisitions leading to sharp depreciation in 2020.

Its domestic activity, which generates more than half of its turnover, has meanwhile benefited from a strengthening real estate market, with historically low interest rates driving real estate prices to record levels.

This prompted several takeover bids this year from its largest shareholder, billionaire media mogul Kerry Stokes’ Seven Group Holdings (SVW.AX).

Seven Group now owns nearly 70% of Boral, after increasing its stake by nearly 20% in September last year. In July, Boral appointed Seven boss Ryan Stokes as chairman.

Boral sold its US construction products business to Westlake Chemical Corp (WLK.N) for $ 2.15 billion in June. He announced at the end of last year that he would also sell his stake in the American company Meridian Brick. Read more

Proceeds from the sale of the 40-year-old U.S. fly ash business, slated for completion next year, will be reinvested and the board will later determine the most appropriate way to return the excess capital to the shareholders, Boral said.

Its shares, which have jumped more than a quarter this year, gained as much as 2.8% to AUS $ 6.34 in morning trading.

($ 1 = AU $ 1.4290)

Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Rashmi Aich

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