Two concrete plants in the north of Scotland are set to change hands as Breedon Aggregates’ £336million takeover of a rival building materials firm edges closer.
The sites will be offloaded as part of Breedon’s attempts to quash concerns that its tie-up with Hope Construction Materials would give it a monopoly in eight parts of the UK.
Yesterday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Breedon’s divestment proposals were adequate and would be accepted, barring valid objections being raised in the next two weeks.
Breedon welcomed the announcement and said it expects the deal for Hope to go through in early August.
Under proposals, 14 ready-mix concrete plants owned by either Breedon or Hope will be sold.
Hope’s plant at Cloddach, Moray, is one of the facilities earmarked for sale.
Furthermore, one of the two Inverness-based plants owned respectively by Breedon and Hope will change hands.
The remaining concrete plants are in England.
Building supplies firm Tarmac, which is owned by Dublin-based CRH, has emerged as the upfront buyer for the Scottish sites.
The Concrete Company, based in Peterborough, is in the running for plants owned by Hope in Lincolnshire.
The CMA said it was convinced the two buyers had enough money to buy the sites and that their acquisition of the plants would not give them an unfair advantage in the market.
The watchdog said: “We currently consider the proposed undertakings … appropriate to remedy, mitigate or prevent the competition concerns identified.”
Interested parties have until July 15 to raise objections with the CMA. If no modifications to the proposals are needed, the regulator will deliver its ruling on the merger, which was first announced in November 2015.
“Breedon expects to be in a position to complete the Hope acquisition in early August 2016,” the Derby-headquartered firm said in a statement.
It is the second time the CMA has intervened in a Breedon takeover.
The firm was told to offload one of two asphalt plants in the north-east of Scotland in the wake of its £34million acquisition of Aggregate Industries UK’s Scottish assets in 2014.
Breedon, which is supplying materials for the Aberdeen city bypass and the A9 dualling between Perth and Inverness, eventually opted to offload its plant at Tom’s Forest in Kintore.
Breedon has since set up another asphalt plant at Tom’s Forest to replace the one it had to sell.
Breedon’s Dundee-based Scottish business employ around 700 people, operating about 38 quarries, 17 asphalt plants, 37 ready-mixed concrete plants and two concrete block plants.
Hope has about a dozen concrete plants in Scotland.