EANS-Adhoc: Wienerberger acquires Meridian Brick to become leading supplier of masonry solutions in North America
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Disclosed inside information pursuant to article 17 Market Abuse Regulation
(MAR) transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution.
The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Mergers - Acquisitions - Takeovers/Strategic Management Decisions
18.12.2020
Vienna - December 18, 2020
* The acquisition will immediately double Wienerberger's North American revenues
to > $ 800 million
* Strong value-enhancing acquisition offering significant synergy potential:
expected EBITDA for North America > $ 120 million post synergies by 2023
* Customers gain access to an even greater range of building solutions with a
strong focus on sustainability
The Wienerberger Group, a leading international provider of building material
and infrastructure solutions, announces today that it has signed an agreement to
acquire Meridian Brick from Boral and an affiliate of Lone Star Funds for
purchase price of $ 250 million, subject to customary adjustments.
Meridian Brick: A Leader in the USA with a Strong Position in Canada
Based in Georgia, USA, Meridian Brick is the largest manufacturer of clay façade
solutions by capacity in the USA and has a strong position in the Canada region.
Meridian is a leading masonry supplier in key regions such as Texas, South East
USA, and Ontario, the largest brick consuming area in Canada. Its product
portfolio includes innovative systems for the building envelope for residential
and commercial applications, including renovation. With more than 1,000
employees operating in 20 manufacturing plants across the USA and Canada,
Meridian Brick generated revenues in excess of $ 400 million in the financial
year to June 30, 2020.
Strong Strategic and Financial Logic
This acquisition marks a significant step in Wienerberger's value-driven growth
strategy and will establish the Group as the North American leader for
innovative and sustainable masonry solutions. Through the acquisition of
Meridian Brick, Wienerberger immediately doubles the revenues of its North
America business to more than $ 800 million, further increasing its ability to
benefit from strong demand in both the new build and renovation segments.
Meridian Brick extends Wienerberger's geographical footprint to Texas, the
largest brick consuming state in the USA, and adds a local presence in highly
attractive metropolitan regions. It will be fully integrated into Wienerberger's
existing North America Business Unit, General Shale.
Meridian Brick is highly complementary to Wienerberger's existing solutions
portfolio, reinforcing Wienerberger's position in new and attractive
applications. The combination of Meridian's innovative products, technical know-
how and nationwide integrated partnership distribution model with General
Shale's robust commercial platform and systems solution competence represents a
significant value creation opportunity. Wienerberger will be able to offer its
customers an even greater range of complete solutions for construction and
renovation of residential buildings and grow its exposure to commercial
properties.
Wienerberger expects to benefit from significant synergies, including through
optimization of the production and distribution network, implementation of
further operational excellence measures across the combined business and
improvements in ESG performance. Run-rate EBITDA synergies of $ 20 million are
expected by 2023 resulting in a combined synergized EBITDA of > $120 million.
Heimo Scheuch, CEO of Wienerberger Group commented:
"This acquisition is our largest acquisition in fifteen years and significantly
increases the scale and breadth of our offering in North America, establishing
our leadership in the region and building a strong foundation for sustainable
growth. Meridian Brick is an excellent fit for Wienerberger due to our shared
focus on sustainability, innovative solutions and digital business models.
Smart solutions for resource-efficient construction and renovation are becoming
ever more important in the face of climate change. With Meridian Brick, we can
make an even more effective contribution to overcoming these challenges with
sustainable products for the building envelope.
The goal of all our developments is to bring us closer to our customers and
partners to offer them complete systems solutions; the acquisition of Meridian
Brick helps us to take a significant further step in that direction."
Transaction Details
Completion is targeted to occur in the first half of 2021, subject to
competition clearance and satisfaction of other conditions typical for a
transaction of this nature. The transaction consideration will be financed from
existing credit lines. Following completion of the acquisition, Wienerberger
will retain a strong balance sheet and liquidity position and expects the ratio
of net debt to EBITDA to be comfortably ~ 2.0x at year-end 2020.
A conference call will be hosted at 2pm CET and can be accessed via the
following link:
https://www.wienerberger.com/en/investors.html [https://www.wienerberger.com/en/
investors.html]
Wienerberger Group
The Wienerberger Group is a leading international provider of smart solutions
for the entire building envelope and for infrastructure. Wienerberger is the
world's largest producer of bricks (Porotherm, Terca) and the market leader in
clay roof tiles (Koramic, Tondach) in Europe as well as concrete pavers
(Semmelrock) in Eastern Europe. In pipe systems (Steinzeug-Keramo ceramic pipes
and Pipelife plastic pipes), the company is one of the leading suppliers in
Europe. With its total of 201 production sites, the Wienerberger Group generated
revenues of EUR 3.5 billion and EBITDA LFL of EUR 587 million in 2019.
Wienerberger AG is a pure free float company, whereby the majority of shares are
held by Austrian and international institutional investors. Additional
information on the shareholder structure is provided under https://
wienerberger.com/en/investors/share [https://wienerberger.com/en/investors/
share%20]
Further inquiry note:
Claudia Hajdinyak, Head of Corporate Communications Wienerberger AG
t +43 664 828 31 83 | claudia.hajdinyak@wienerberger.com
Anna Maria Grausgruber, Head of Investor Relations Wienerberger AG
t +43 1 601 92 - 10221 | investor@wienerberger.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: Wienerberger AG
Wienerbergerplatz 1
A-1100 Wien
phone: +43 1 60 192-0
FAX: +43 1 60 192-10159
mail: office@wienerberger.com
WWW: www.wienerberger.com
ISIN: AT0000831706, AT0000A2GLA0
indexes: ATX
stockmarkets: Wien
language: English