HeidelbergCement: sale of Building Products business completed

Company complete sale of North American and UK Building Products business to Lone Star

HeidelbergCement have completed the sale of their North American (excluding Western Canada) and UK building products business (collectively Hanson Building Products) to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds.

‘I am very glad to be able to hand over Hanson Building Products to a buyer who, as experienced financial investors, will support the sustainable development of the business going forward,’ said Dr Bernd Scheifele, CEO of HeidelbergCement.

‘This transaction marks the completion of HeidelbergCement’s repositioning…towards its core products of cement and aggregates and downstream activities of ready-mixed concrete and asphalt.

‘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 declined to well below €6 billion. This is an important step towards improving our creditworthiness.’

HeidelbergCement and Lone Star first announced the sale on 24 December 2014. With the completion of the deal, HeidelbergCement have received cash proceeds of more than €1.2 billion. In addition, depending on the performance of the business in 2015, up to US$100 million will be payable in 2016.