(Alliance News) - CRH PLC and Adbri Ltd on Monday announced an agreement that will see CRH take a majority stake in its fellow building materials firm and delist it from the Australian Stock Exchange.

Working alongside Adbri's 43% shareholder Barro Group, CRH has offered to buy all Adbri shares not already owned by Barro or CRH for AUD3.20, about USD2.15, in cash. CRH already has a 4.6% interest in Adbri.

The offer gives all of Adbri an equity value of AUD2.1 billion, about USD1.4 billion, and the 57% stake that CRH will own a value of AUD1.1 billion.

Adbri shares closed up 31% at AUD2.98 in Sydney on Monday, giving it a AUD1.95 billion market capitalisation. CRH shares were down 0.3% at 5,288.00 pence in London for a GBP37.50 billion equity value.

Adbri, based in Adelaide, Australia, was formerly known as Adelaide Brighton. CRH said Adbri expects to report underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of AUD310 million to AUD315 million in 2023.

CRH is a Dublin-based building materials firm that recently moved its main stock market listing to New York. Barro is an Australian family-owned business.

"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, similar in nature to the southern United States and Central and Eastern Europe where we have a significant presence," said CRH Chief Executive Albert Manifold.

By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor

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