By Stuart Condie
SYDNEY–Adbri shares hit a 19-month intraday high after the Australian building-materials supplier received a takeover offer from U.S.-listed CRH in partnership with its largest shareholder.
CRH on Monday said that it and Australia’s Barro Group had offered 3.20 Australian dollars (US$2.15) for each Adbri share they don’t already own. The stock was up 34% at A$3.04 shortly after the start of trade.
Barro already holds a 43% stake in Adbri. Ireland-based CRH, which has a 4.6% interest via a cash-settled derivative, said it wants to acquire the 57% of Adbri’s shares not owned by Barro.
CRH Chief Executive Albert Manifold said Australia’s building-materials market was similar to those in the southern U.S., central Europe and eastern Europe, all of which CRH already operates in.
“We have held a long-term interest in the Australian construction materials market, which has attractive attributes including stable market dynamics and positive growth prospects,” Manifold said.
Adbri shares closed as high as A$7.05 in July 2018, but lost more than 80% of their value by October 2022, hitting a 17-year lowest close of A$1.37. They had rallied to A$2.27 prior to the non-binding offer by CRH and Barro.
The offer values Adbri’s total equity at about A$2.1 billion.
Write to Stuart Condie at [email protected]
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