Breedon (BREE), the UK’s largest independent aggregates business, has made its biggest ever acquisition with the £455m purchase of Belfast-based building materials group Lagan. The deal will be funded through a £170m equity placing, a new £150m loan and a new £350m revolving credit facility that replaces an existing £300m facility.
Lagan will bring a modern cement plant, nine active quarries, 13 asphalt plants and nine mixed-concrete plants. It also has a brick manufacturing plant, four port terminals and a share in a bitumen vessel. In 2017, Lagan generated revenue of £249m and cash profits of £46m. The deal will give Breedon the opportunity to expand through the aggregates business in Ireland as well as asphalt and mixed-concrete operations. Cost synergies within the first three years are estimated at £5m.