By Lauren Thomas
Martin Marietta Materials has struck a deal to combine with limestone supplier Lhoist North America in a transaction valued at $13.5 billion, including debt.
The details
Martin Marietta said Monday it expects to use a mix of $7 billion in cash along with shares of its stock valued at $6.5 billion to fund the deal, confirming an earlier report from The Wall Street Journal.
The deal would be the largest ever for Raleigh, N.C.-based Martin Marietta, which has a market value of more than $36 billion.
Martin Marietta shares traded at all-time highs in February, with its stock price rallying more than 70% over the past five years. Its shares were falling around 4% in premarket trading Monday on the news.
Martin Marietta specializes in supplying heavy building materials such as crushed stone, sand, gravel and asphalt used across infrastructure, including highways and sidewalks, and in construction. It also has a smaller and highly profitable specialty-materials business that makes products including dolomitic lime.
Lhoist North America, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is an extractor, manufacturer and supplier of lime, limestone and other mineral-based products. The segment is part of the privately held Lhoist Group, a family-owned Belgian industrial company that dates back to 1889.
Lhoist's Berghmans family is expected to own roughly 15% of Martin Marietta upon the deal's close, the companies said on Monday.
The context
Lime is a versatile material used in everything from water treatment and agriculture to steel manufacturing. The combined company could benefit from the boom in data-center construction and semiconductor fabrication in the U.S., among other planned infrastructure projects that require lime.
Martin Marietta's main aggregates business focuses on heavy materials like crushed stone and has posted strong financial results for years.
Lhoist's assets in North America are primarily located across the U.S. Sunbelt, an area that Martin Marietta has also said is key to its long-term growth.
Ward Nye has served as chief executive officer of Martin Marietta since 2010. He has used dealmaking, typically local and bolt-on deals, as part of his strategy to expand the business.
There has been other dealmaking activity in the industry as businesses look to scale. In late 2024, Quikrete Holdings announced an $11.5 billion deal, including debt, to acquire Summit Materials, bringing together two of the biggest makers of building materials in the U.S. Home Depot and Lowe's also struck deals to capitalize on the momentum for building materials.
Write to Lauren Thomas at [email protected]