Gypsum industry news

South Africa: Belgium's Etex Group has announced the acquisition of Lafarge's South African gypsum business. An Etex press release stated that Lafarge Gypsum South Africa and its local company Marley Building Systems, two businesses of equal size, will team up to create a 'unique and competitive offer that capitalises on today's Southern African building trends.'

The deal is in line with Etex's aims of strengthening its position in Africa, with the Southern African region and Nigeria its main drivers of growth. In South Africa, the demand for housing has been on the rise, driven by a growing population and an emerging middle class. In addition, the market is becoming increasingly regulated. Consequently, alternative building methods like dry construction are gradually replacing traditional construction methods.

"Combining these two product offerings enables us to provide the full scope of Etex's portfolio," said Paul van Oyen, CEO of Etex. "That way, we can answer the changing local demand with a global approach for the whole southern African market, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique."

For factory personnel, Etex has said that everything will remain as it is. Meanwhile, the support teams at Marley will be strengthened by teams from Lafarge Gypsum. "Lafarge Gypsum (adds) the technical and innovation support an international group can offer," added van Oyen. A transition team will ensure the smooth merger of both companies once the deal has been finalised. The acquisition is subject to the customary closing conditions.

US: Saint-Gobain has signed an agreement to purchase Structus Building Technologies, Inc (SBTI) of Bend, Oregon. The company owns one production plant and with 60 employees.

Founded in 1996, Structus is a leading manufacturer of high-performance wallboard corner solutions with a very strong focus on innovation, improving the way the building industry designs and constructs wall systems. Saint-Gobain has distributed Structus products for many years in North America and Europe, making this project a 'natural fit.'

Tanzania: Saint-Gobain has finalised the acquisition of 50% of the capital of Lodhia Gypsum Industries, a leading producer of wallboard in Tanzania. The deal is expected to consolidate Saint-Gobain's leadership in the wallboard segment in east Africa and is in line with the group's strategy to expand its presence in sub-Saharan Africa. Lodhia Gypsum, which makes and distributes wallboard in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries, employs 90 and has a production plant in Arusha, close to the border with Kenya.

Vietnam: Saint-Gobain has increased its holding in Vinh Tuong Industrial Corp (VTI) from 14.8% to over 57% to consolidate its presence in the country. The deal will reinforce Saint-Gobain's presence in Vietnam, where it already operates a wallboard plant.

VTI is a major player in the Vietnamese construction materials market with expected sales of US$109m in 2015 from wallboard and wall solution sales. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Israel: Israel Chemicals (ICL) is selling its gypsum, pharmaceutical and cosmetics (PCG) business to One Rock Capital Partners for an estimated US$50m.

The sale of the PCG business units is part of ICL's 'Next Step Forward' strategy to divest its non-core businesses to focus on its core businesses in the agriculture, food and engineered materials markets. Israel Chemicals Performance Products' gypsum business is mostly in the UK and focuses on dental applications.

France/Switzerland: Saint-Gobain has said that the validity of its agreement with the Burkard family for the acquisition of the shares in Sika has been extended to 30 June 2016, with an option to further extend the agreement.

French construction material producer Saint-Gobain and the Burkard family decided to change their agreement on the sale of the shares of Schenker-Winkler Holding (SWH), which holds the majority of the voting rights in Sika, and to extend the validity of the agreement, the French group said in a statement. Holding company SWH owns a 16.1% stake in Sika and 52.4% of the voting rights.

"Under no circumstance can Saint-Gobain be forced to purchase the shares of SWH if its stake in Sika would not represent the majority of the voting rights or if such acquisition would trigger the obligation to launch a mandatory offer to all Sika shareholders," the company said in a statement.

In December 2014, Saint-Gobain had announced its intention to buy this stake for Euro2.6bn, thus acquiring control over Sika.

US: Gypsum Management and Supply Inc (GMS) has made a strategic entrance into the California and Hawaii markets by acquiring San Diego-based J&B Materials Inc and its affiliated Hawaiian operation, Pono Building Materials LLC.

"We are pleased to bring J&B Materials and Pono Building Materials into the GMS family," said Mike Callahan, president of GMS. "Their commitment to delivering exceptional service, knowledgeable personnel and an expansive product suite with a focus on safety fits well within our culture. This partnership provides us with an excellent opportunity to expand our service area into California and Hawaii while enhancing our West Coast coverage."

J&B Materials has locations in El Cajon, Escondido, Riverside and El Centro in California and one in Honolulu, Hawaii. J&B offers a wide variety of building products including wallboard, stucco, lath and plaster and fasteners among others.

Don Taylor, the GMS vice president of operations for the western region, sees the acquisition as a key step in growing the GMS footprint in California and the whole southwestern US. "We feel that J&B, with its exceptional customer relationships and strong brand name, will be a key component to further expansion. With Bob and Jeff Young joining our team, this will give us the additional management depth to continue our growth," said Taylor.

US: Gypsum Management and Supply (GMS) has signed an agreement to acquire Ohio Valley Building Products based in Wheeling, West Virginia. Ohio Valley Building Products, which supplies wallboard, ceiling products and insulation services, will be the 34th wholly-owned subsidiary of GMS. The deal marks the strategic entrance of GMS into West Virginia, western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.

"We are excited about the addition of Ohio Valley to the GMS family," said Mike Anderson, vice president of the northeast region. "The greater Pittsburgh/Ohio Valley market has been of key interest to us for years. Eric Bayer and his team will be key to us growing in this market in the future."

"I am very excited to join with GMS," said Eric Bayer, president and owner of Ohio Valley Building Products. "We pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service and that fits well with GMS. We cannot wait to get started."

Canada/US: HIG Capital, a global private equity investment firm, has announced that its portfolio company Harrison Gypsum has acquired JA Jack & Sons, a miner and processor of limestone products. JA Jack owns and operates a quarry on Texada Island in British Columbia, Canada and ships limestone to a processing facility in Seattle, Washington, USA.

"We are excited about the strategic expansion of our operations into the Pacific Northwest," said Paul Harrington, CEO of Harrison Gypsum. "JA Jack not only allows us to grow outside our core markets of Oklahoma and Texas, but also significantly broadens our customer footprint and product portfolio within our expertise of mineral processing. JA Jack has had a long and successful history under the Jack family dating back to the 1940s and we will be sure to serve as great stewards of the business going forward."

Canada: Pan American Fertilizer Corp has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to acquire Demetra Minerals, a Vancouver-based, privately-held junior fertiliser company developing agricultural gypsum products for the Cono Sur markets of Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil.

In the proposed transaction, a new seven-member board of directors will be composed of three nominees from each of Pan American and Demetra plus a mutually agreed 7th independent director. Gregg Jensen of Demetra would be appointed as president and CEO, Sebastian Cattaneo as COO and Jeremy Wright as CFO. Robert Rennie would remain as the chairman. Pan American and Demetra would consolidate all assets and debts.