Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. (ENXTPA:SGO) is understood to be circling Knauf Gips KG's Australian plasterboard assets and has been tipped as a potential buyer of Boral's $3.5 billion operations in the US. This column reported last week that Saint-Gobain was understood to be interested in the $400 million Knauf portfolio that is soon to be placed up for sale in an official process run by Bank of America. Another company that is also understood to be interested in buying the Knauf plasterboard operations is China National Building Material, or CNBM.

Boral, led by the recently appointed Zlatko Todorcevski, is expected to announce the results of a strategic review of its overall operations carried out by Macquarie Capital and Flagstaff at the end of the month, with most anticipating its US operations will be sold off. Investors have expressed disappointment at its performance since the 2016 acquisition.