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Polaris Minerals reports first quarter results
- 16/05/2007
(VANCOUVER, British Columbia) – Polaris Minerals Corporation (TSX:PLS) today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007. All financial results are in US dollars, unless otherwise noted.
Effective January 1, 2007, the Company changed its reporting currency to the US dollar (USD). The change in reporting currency is to better reflect the Company's principal operating currency, as Polaris incurs the majority of its operating revenues and costs in USD. Prior to January 1, 2007, the Company reported its annual and quarterly consolidated financial statements in Canadian
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Hanson: The rise and sale of an empire
- 16/05/2007
(UK) -- Once a great British conglomerate, Hanson now leaves these shores in an £8bn German takeover. Derek Pain looks at the sale of a concrete giant
Published: 16 May 2007
The agreed £8bn German takeover of Hanson, the building materials giant, means that yet another famous name is set to disappear from the stock market. In recent years such icons as Abbey National, P&O and even Manchester United have fallen to overseas strikes. Now it is the turn of a company that once paraded its Britishness and was created by two peers of the realm who were happy to wave the Union Jack.
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Jobs 'safe' after Heidelberg/Hanson deal
- 16/05/2007
(UK) -- Hundreds of jobs will be secure in the Midlands despite the £8 billion agreed takeover of building materials group Hanson by Germany's HeidelbergCement.
HeidelbergCement, the aggregates and building materials group, said it saw no "large scale" job losses from the deal which still requires shareholder approval.
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Consolidation Is Hot in Cement
- 15/05/2007
(Motley Fool) -- Consolidation is the hot trend in the cement industry. The acquisition of Rinker (NYSE: RIN) by Stock Advisor selection Cemex (NYSE: CX) is finally on terms acceptable to both parties, and today two other large global players in the cement business, HeidelbergCement and Hanson (NYSE: HAN), announced they're going to hook up as well.
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Heidelberg/Hanson
- 15/05/2007
(London, UK) -- How much? It must have taken Hanson's board all of three seconds to decide to recommend HeidelbergCement's £11 a share cash offer to shareholders.
This equates to an enterprise value for the UK building materials company of £9.5bn. That is 12.3 times trailing earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Deals in the sector have, on average, been done at 8.4 times over the past decade. Heidelberg is also paying almost twice Hanson's average multiple for the past six years. And Hanson was already expensive before Heidelberg's interest was made public on May
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Holcim Raises Bid for Canadian Unit to Win Approval
- 15/05/2007
(Bloomberg) -- Holcim Ltd., the world's second- biggest cement maker, won the backing of St. Lawrence Cement Group Inc. for a planned buyout of the Canadian subsidiary after raising its offer by 10 percent to C$630 million.
Shareholders owning 21 percent of the Canadian company will be offered C$40.25 a share ($36.23), Montreal-based St. Lawrence said today in an e-mail. Holcim previously offered C$36.5 a share. The board of directors of St. Lawrence recommends shareholders accept the offer, the company said.
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HeidelbergCement Buys Hanson for 7.85 Billion Pounds
- 15/05/2007
(Bloomberg) -- HeidelbergCement AG, Germany's largest cement maker, agreed to buy Hanson Plc of the U.K. for 7.85 billion pounds ($16 billion) in the global building- materials industry's biggest-ever takeover.
HeidelbergCement will pay 11 pounds a share in cash for London-based Hanson, the largest supplier of sand and gravel, it said today. That's 29 percent more than the closing price on May 2, when the German company first said it might bid.
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Hanson set to accept takeover offer from Heidelberg
- 14/05/2007
(UK) -- Hanson is set to recommend an £11-a-share takeover bid from HeidelbergCement of Germany in a deal that values the last remaining significant heavy materials company under British ownership at about £7.85bn.
Both sides were finalising details of the deal on Monday night, and, barring any last-minute hitches, an announcement could be made as early as Tuesday.
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Private equity groups eyeing up Hanson
- 14/05/2007
(UK) -- Hanson came under the bid spotlight last week when HeidelbergCement confirmed it was looking at a move for the £7.3bn firm.
The Germans' announcement, forced by the Takeover Panel, is understood to have flushed out other potential buyers interested in the UK's last remaining independent building materials group.
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80,000 quarry workers voice demands
- 14/05/2007
India -- The second State-level meet of stone quarry workers on Sunday morning saw quarry workers making vociferous demands seeking ration cards for BPL families, Public Distribution Shops (PDS), safe and adequate drinking water supply, health facilities, one guntha land for each quarry worker and utilisation of the mine development fund for the welfare of the quarry workers. The meet was held at Netaji Subhashchandra Bose school ground in Yerawada.
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Short supply of clinker hits cement industry
- 14/05/2007
(India) -- The country's cement industry has been hit by short supply of clinker, the principal raw material, due to its price hike in international market, sending yet another blow to the real estate sector, now experiencing an unprecedented slump.
The price hike of clinker and its supply problem have been attributed mainly to its high demand in the Middle Eastern countries and mining disruption by floods in Malaysia and Indonesia - the two major suppliers of the ingredient.
Sales of apartment have dropped by almost 50 per cent due to a recent crackdown by the country's revenue department
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Holcim Raises Bid for Canadian Unit to Win Approval
- 14/05/2007
Holcim Ltd., the world's second- biggest cement maker, won the backing of St. Lawrence Cement Group Inc. for a planned buyout of the Canadian subsidiary after raising its offer by 10 percent to C$630 million.
Shareholders owning 21 percent of the Canadian company will be offered C$40.25 a share ($36.23), Montreal-based St. Lawrence said today in an e-mail. Holcim previously offered C$36.5 a share. The board of directors of St. Lawrence recommends shareholders accept the offer, the company said.
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Martin Marietta Tempers Profit Outlook
- 11/05/2007
(RALEIGH, North Caroliina) — Martin Marietta Materials Inc., which makes and markets aggregates for the construction industry, on Tuesday reiterated its 2007 earnings guidance, although the outlook included weaker growth in aggregate sales and remained below Wall Street's current estimate.
The company anticipates earnings of between $6.10 per share to $6.65 per share, an outlook it increased on April 19 from previous guidance of between $5.95 per share and $6.50 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, however, forecast a profit in 2007 of $6.67 per share. Last year, Martin Marietta
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Newman makes ‘Hanson' returns
- 11/05/2007
(UK) -- Luke Newman, manager of F&C Special Situations fund, has benefited from an indicative takeover approach for long standing holding Hanson, one of the UK's leading suppliers of heavy building materials.
Newman targets companies which are either undergoing a period of structural change, are set to benefit from new management or those companies whose share prices wrongly imply little or no growth prospects.
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Italcementi JV acquires stake in shipping
- 11/05/2007
Italcementi's Medcem JV acquires 20 pct in shipping firm
(MILAN, Italy) - Italcementi SpA said its Medcem venture with the Romeo group has acquired a 20 pct stake in shipping company Sider Navi, in a deal which gives Medcem a say in possible purchases of cement carriers and/or mini bulk carriers by Sider Navi.
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HeidelbergCement bid financing
- 10/05/2007
German group lines up banks for Hanson
HeidelbergCement has lined up the Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank as debt providers ahead of a possible takeover bid for Hanson, the world's biggest supplier of sand and gravel which is valued at about £7.3bn ($14.5bn).
Germany's biggest cement maker, which is controlled by billionaire Adolf Merckle, said last week that it was reviewing its options for Hanson, including a takeover. The two groups have had informal talks with Hanson, but no formal offer has yet been made.
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Cemex lowers level of acceptance on Rinker bid
- 10/05/2007
(SYDNEY, Australia) - Mexico's Cemex looked to have sealed its $14 billion takeover of Australian building materials maker Rinker Group Ltd. on Monday, analysts said, after a key investor moved to accept the offer.
Cemex, the world's No. 3 cement maker, also lowered the level of acceptances needed for a successful bid from 90 percent to 50 percent, and extended its bid for a fifth time to June 8.
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CRH provides overview of markets
- 09/05/2007
(Ireland) -- CRH plc, the international building materials group, is issuing this update on current trading conditions in conjunction with its Annual General Meeting which is being held today at 3.00 pm in Dublin.
Overall trading in the first four months of the year is ahead of last year with a particularly strong start from our operations in Europe. Development activity has been brisk with approximately euro 400 million invested in acquisitions and investments, including the recently announced purchase of a 50% stake in Denizli Cement in Turkey. We expect that the acquisition of publicly-
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Another Cement Cartel Bust
- 09/05/2007
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Concrete and Asphalt to increase 20% in price in 2008
- 09/05/2007
Brace for 'scary' tax hike: mayor
Rising salaries, inflation may force 10-per-cent increase
EDMONTON - Rising costs driven mainly by Alberta's economic boom could lead to a "scary" double-digit property tax hike next year, Mayor Stephen Mandel warned Tuesday.
A report on the 2008 operating budget process shows Edmonton might need an extra $57 million to $76 million just to provide the same services it does now, with most of the increase caused by higher salaries and inflation.
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Hanson admits German takeover approach
- 09/05/2007
HeidelbergCement, which is controlled by the billionaire Adolf Merckle, has the once-mighty conglomerate in its sights
Hanson has written to shareholders about a possible bid from HeidelbergCement, of Germany, which could value the British building materials group at more than £8 billion.
Hanson, which is being advised by NM Rothschild, the investment bank, said today that investors should seek advice before making any changes to their shareholdings in the company.
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HeidelbergCement Doesn't Anticipate Hanson Bid Tussle with Lafarge
- 09/05/2007
HeidelbergCement AG, Germany's biggest cement maker, said it doesn't expect to spark a bidding contest for Hanson Plc should it offer to buy the world's biggest supplier of sand and gravel to the construction industry.
Chief Executive Officer Bernd Scheifele said he does ''not really'' anticipate counterbids from competitors including Lafarge SA, the world's No. 1 cement producer. HeidelbergCement said it's still ''reviewing its options'' regarding an approach for Hanson, which has a market value equivalent to $15 billion.
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Rinker's largest shareholder accepts Cemex bid
- 08/05/2007
(SYDNEY, Australia) - Cemex's $14.2 billion bid for Rinker Group was accepted by the Australian building-materials maker's largest shareholder, removing the biggest hurdle to the six-month-old deal.
Perpetual, which holds a 10.5 percent stake in Rinker, said that it would accept the $15.85 a share cash bid "as soon as practicable." Rinker shares gained 1.8 percent to 19.23 Australian dollars in Sydney, rising to the offer price based on Monday's exchange rate.
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MDU Resources announces director's intent to sell stock
- 07/05/2007
(BISMARCK, North Dakota) - MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) today announced that outside Director Thomas Everist filed a Form 144 on May 2 with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating his intent to sell up to 1 million shares of MDU Resources stock within the next three months.
Everist owns nearly 3.5 million shares of MDU Resources common stock, or 1.9 percent of outstanding shares. Approximately 3.4 million shares were acquired in the sale of his construction materials company, Connolly-Pacific Co., to MDU Resources in 2000.
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Contractor Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy
- 07/05/2007
On April 26, Andre Savvides of Dix Hills, New York, the majority owner of Excel Group, Inc., a Mineola, New York-based non-minority general contractor, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York, to a charge of conspiracy to launder money. Savvides conspired with a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) subcontractor to create false documentation regarding the percentage of work Excel was subcontracting to that DBE firm. Contractors working on transportation projects receiving Federal funds are generally required to subcontract a portion of their work to DBE firms.
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