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...Among the companies flagged for a potential sale are HeidelbergCement, the owner of UK cement-maker Hanson, and Ratiopharm, the generic drugmaker....
...The cement maker, majority-owned by investment vehicles belonging to the late Adolf Merckle, is laden with €12bn of debt after the poorly timed acquisition of British rival Hanson in 2007....
...As the third-biggest aggregate producer in the US and the second-biggest globally, Hanson provides a natural fit for HeidelbergCement, marrying up its Castle cement plant in the UK with Hanson’s aggregates...
...The French group followed this four years later with the takeover of Blue Circle, the cement maker, giving it 46 per cent of the UK cement market....
...Blue Circle, the UK cement company, rejected a £3.7bn hostile bid from its French rival Lafarge in May 2000. This week, Hanson recommended a £8bn takeover by HeidelbergCement of Germany....
...Although Cemex had been seen as possible buyer for Hanson, ABN Amro insisted that other bidders, such as Heidelberg Cement, Lafarge and private equity, could still be interested in the building materials...
...Hanson’s shares shot up 20 per cent on Thursday at the merest hint that the world’s cement-makers would all throw their hard hats into the ring for the building materials group....
...CRH, the Irish cement maker, gained 15.3 per cent to €36.73, while France’s Lafarge rose 6.8 per cent to €125.34 and Switzerland’s Holcim added 4.5 per cent to SFr134.70....
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