Ash Grove Cement receive competing proposal
US cement company receives preliminary, non-binding competing proposal from third party
TWO weeks ago it was announced that CRH plc, the Dublin-based international building materials group, has reached an agreement to acquire Ash Grove Cement Company, a leading US cement manufacturer headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, for a total consideration of US$3.5 billion.
Yesterday Ash Grove announced that they had received a preliminary, non-binding competing proposal from a third party to acquire the company at an indicated enterprise value of around $3.7 billion to $3.8 billion.
The board of directors of Ash Grove has determined that such proposal could reasonably be expected to result in a superior proposal and has therefore decided to engage with the third party regarding its proposed offer.
In accordance with the agreement and plan of merger with CRH, Ash Grove have advised CRH that the window shop period (as defined in the merger agreement) with respect to the competing proposal has been extended until 5pm (New York time) on 20 October 2017.
However, Ash Grove have stated that there can be no assurance that the competing proposal will lead to a definitive offer or, if such an offer is made, that the board of directors will determine that the offer is superior to the transaction with CRH.
Ash Grove have established a meeting date of 1 November 2017 for a special meeting of their stockholders to, among other things, consider and vote on a proposal to adopt the previously announced agreement and plan of merger with CRH.
In a brief statement issued today, CRH said they noted the announcement made by Ash Grove on 5 October and, in particular, that the period for obtaining Ash Grove shareholder approval had been extended.
