Ireland: building materials group Readymix in talks about takeover
Building materials group Readymix has announced that it has received approaches for the company and is in discussions that could result in a takeover.
“Discussions are at an early stage and there can be no certainty that these will lead to an offer for Readymix nor as to the terms on which an offer, if any, might be made,” the company said in a brief statement to the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday. It said further announcements would be made when appropriate.
Analysts said that it was likely that Readymix’s majority shareholder, the Mexico-based building materials firm Cemex, was one of the interested parties behind the approach.
Shares in Readymix, which has a market capitalisation of about €18.6m, rose 41 per cent on the Iseq index following its statement. Its share price closed at 24 cent, up seven cent.
Readymix reported a loss of €6.6m for the first six months of the year in August. The deficit was roughly in line with the first half of last year, when the company lost €6.9m before tax.
The company reported that the ongoing decline in the construction market left first-half revenues trailing the same period last year by 30 per cent.
Cemex has a 61.2 per cent stake in Readymix. It is possible that it is either looking to mount a full takeover or considering a sale of part or all of its stake to a third party. Published under Cement News
