Gypsum industry news

US: Lafarge has announced that is preparing the sale of its North American gypsum business to US private equity firm Lone Star in a deal worth an enterprise value of US$700m.

Lafarge North America's Gypsum division manufactures gypsum wallboards and joint compounds throughout a network of plants in the United States and Canada, including three US gypsum wallboard plants. In 2012, these operations generated sales of US$310m. The assets have been held for sale in the Lafarge's consolidated balance sheet since 2011.

This transaction, which is expected to close very soon, is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Global building materials producer Lafarge reduced its net debt by Euro700m in 2012 to Euro11.3bn. It sold the majority of its worldwide gypsum business – in Asia, Europe, South America and Australia – to Boral and Etex in 2011. Lafarge retains a 20% stake in the joint venture with Etex.

Switzerland/UK: Swiss-based Sika, which produces additives for the gypsum and cement industries, has acquired Everbuild Building Products Ltd, the UK's largest independent manufacturer of sealants, adhesives and chemicals for the construction industry. Everbuild is located in Leeds with annual sales revenue of Euro73m and a workforce of 270 employees.

Everbuild, founded in 1994, will now operate as a subsidiary of Sika UK and will be led by the existing management team. Its founder David Seymour will stay with the company to drive the continued success of the business and ensure a smooth transition. "With Sika we have the possibility to further grow our business and to benefit from the broad research and development capabilities for further product innovation," said Seymour.

Jan Jenisch, CEO of Sika, said, "We are very proud to welcome the successful team of Everbuild to the Sika family. The acquisition will give us a strong position in the UK distribution market and offers considerable potential to further leverage Everbuild's sales channels with Sika's product range."

Oman: USG-Zawawi Group and Bank Sohar have signed a US$45m deal to set up and run a gypsum quarry and gypsum wallboard plant in the Salalah Free Zone in Oman. The plant will have a production capacity of 8MM²/yr in its first phase, with a capacity of 16MM²/yr planned in accordance with future demand.

Zawawi Minerals LLC is an Oman-based company belonging to the Qais Zawawi Group. Zawawi Minerals is engaged in exploring and trading high-quality industrial minerals and metal ores, like limestone, gypsum, dolomite and chrome ore. USG's partnership with Zawawi has established two joint venture companies: Zawawi Gypsum LLC and USG-Zawawi Drywall LLC SFZ. The first joint venture develops infrastructure and operates a gypsum quarry, while the second joint venture will build and operate the new gypsum board plant in the Salalah Free Zone.

US: Eagle Materials' revenue has increased by 30% to US$643m for its financial year to 31 March 2013, from US$495m in the same period of 2011 – 2012. The US-based building materials provider saw fourth quarter results improve across all business lines reflecting an improving construction market in the US.

Eagle's gross profit for the year more than doubled to US$103m in 2013 – 2012 from US$40.5m in 2012 – 2011. Revenues for its gypsum wallboard business rose by 41% to US$307m from US$218m. Sales volumes of wallboard rose by 17% to 177MM2 from 152MM2. Eagle attributed the increase in operating earnings to higher net wallboard sales prices and sales volumes.

US: A Florida-based property development built with 'defective' Chinese wallboard has reached a US$22m settlement with the manufacturer, supplier and installer, according to its attorney.

The settlements mark the first time a multifamily structure has received compensation under the multi-district litigation in New Orleans federal court, which consolidated Chinese wallboard lawsuits from the individual homeowner to the wallboard makers, said attorney Greg Weiss of Palm Beach Gardens. Weiss has represented the owners of 320-unit Villa Lago at Renaissance Commons in Boynton Beach.

Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin reached a global settlement in the litigation to pay for the repairs. It is estimated Knauf will have to pay US$10.2m to repair Villa Lago. A previous US$4.6m settlement had been reached with the builder, RJR Holdings II LLC, Boynton Beach. In a twist, RJR Holdings was both a defendant and a plaintiff after developing the property and still owning 130 units.