Lone Star Funds completes acquisition of Hanson Building Products

HeidelbergCement has completed the sale of its North American (excluding Western Canada) and UK building products businesses to Lone Star Funds. The deal was originally announced in December.

Dr Bernd Schiefele, CEO of HeidelbergCement, said that he was glad to hand over Hanson Building Products to an experienced financial investor who will support the sustainable development of the business going forward.

“This transaction marks the completion of HeidelbergCement’s repositioning over the last years towards its core products of cement and aggregates and downstream activities of ready-mixed concrete and asphalt,” said Dr Schiefele. “At the same time, the proceeds of the transaction allow us to significantly accelerate our debt pay down. Considering this cash inflow, our net debt at the end of 2014 declines to well below €6 billion, clearly exceeding the target we committed towards the capital market. This is an important step towards improving our credit- worthiness. We will do our utmost to continue to create value for our shareholders in 2015.”

With the completion of the deal, HeidelbergCement receives cash proceeds of more than €1.2 billion. On top of this, depending on the performance of the business in 2015, up to US$100 million will be payable in 2016.

Adapted from press release by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/13032015/lone-star-funds-completes-acquisition-of-hanson-building-products-517/