US: Eagle Materials Inc. has issued a press release announcing that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Lafarge North America to purchase Lafarge's Sugar Creek plant in Missouri and Tulsa plant in Oklahoma, which have a combined cement capacity of 1.6Mt/yr. The deal also includes six distribution terminals, two aggregates quarries, eight ready-mix concrete plants and a fly ash business.

Eagle will also enter into a transition sales agreement to supply certain Lafarge operations with cement for four to five years and an agreement with a Lafarge affiliate to supply low-cost alternative fuels to the acquired operations.

The purchase price for the group of assets is US$446m, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. The acquisition will increase Eagle's cement capacity by 60% and it is expected to close in November or December 2012, pending regulatory approvals.

Steven Rowley, Eagle Materials' President and Chief Executive Officer, said that the agreement represents a major milestone event for the company. "Our stated strategy has been to grow the cement and aggregates side of our business. Our first priority has been to acquire cement plants that connect but do not overlap with the market reach of our existing plants."

"These two high-quality Lafarge cement plants are a compelling fit with our objectives and the transaction meets our stringent criteria for new investment," continued Rowley. "These assets will allow us to participate more fully in the US construction industry recovery. Additionally this transaction further positions the company near energy growth markets, where there is growing demand for our specialty oil well cement, along with our newly-offered high-quality northern white frac sand. These new cement, concrete and aggregates assets will immediately contribute earnings and cash flow for our stockholders. Moreover they will provide significant near-term opportunities for synergies and earnings growth."