WA group BGC will sell its fibre cement business for an undisclosed price under a deal with Belgium-based building materials manufacturer Etex.
BGC will sell its fibre cement business for an undisclosed price under a deal with Belgium-based building materials manufacturer Etex.
Etex announced it had inked a deal to acquire the Western Australian group's fibre cement and plasterboard production operations in a bid to broaden its footprint in Australia.
BGC’s 56,000 square metre plasterboard plant in Perth and a network of nine warehouses in Australia and New Zealand are being bought under the deal.
A value for the deal was not disclosed but Etex said in sales the activities represented $155 million in revenue for 2023.
BGC chief executive Daniel Cooper said the BGC Plasterboard and BGC Fibre Cement businesses had delivered excellent financial results following a strengthening of the operating models and responsiveness to market conditions.
"This has resulted in significant interest from several high-profile parties who were eager to acquire both businesses with a view to further grow and develop the businesses and our people," he said.
Etex chief executive Bernard Delvaux said the deal was a strategic opportunity for Etex to complement its footprint in Australia.
He said it would also further increase the accessibility of their products and services for customers.
“This will both reinforce our plasterboard offering and position us well in the growing fibre cement activities through a broad product range and good channel access,” Mr Delvaux said in a statement.
After the deal is done, about 200 employees will join Etex’s ranks in Australia.
The deal is subject to closing conditions and is expected to be finalised in early 2024.
The announcement came just 24 hours after BGC announced it would cost $700 million to fix the damage caused by burst pipes at properties it built around Australia.
The housing group told the market on Wednesday that it built thousands of homes with an Iplex Australia-manufactured pipe. A reported 2,000 water burst events have occurred nationally.
