“We also welcome today’s positive response from the Competition and Markets Authority [CMA] regarding the undertakings we have offered to alleviate its concerns over competition in a limited number of local ready-mixed concrete markets,” said Peter Tom, chairman of Breedon Aggregates.
“As we indicated earlier today in our formal response to the CMA’s announcement, we fully expect to be able to finalise the required undertakings to the CMA’s satisfaction and complete the required divestments in the near future, paving the way for completion of the acquisition later this summer.”
The company is understood to have offered to sell 14 ready-mixed concrete sites to a CMA-approved buyer. The competition authority will announce its decision over whether or not to accept this proposal by 23 June 2016.
Meanwhile, at its annual meeting the company was told in a statement delivered by Peter Tom that trading in the first three months of 2016 was in line with expectations, despite a slow start to the year in Scotland.
“Our major capital investment programme has continued, with a new £3 million (€3.87 million) asphalt plant at Tom’s Forest quarry in Scotland now under construction and due to be commissioned shortly,” said Tom.
“We continue to make good progress with pre-integration planning for the acquisition of Hope Construction Materials Limited.
“The outlook for our industry continues to be positive, with ONS [Office for National Statistics] estimates suggesting a pickup in construction activity since December 2015 and the MPA [Mineral Products Association] forecasting double-digit growth in volumes of all our key products over the next three years. However, the timing and scale of some major projects are still likely to be subject to change and the forthcoming Referendum may create uncertainties in the short term.
“Against this backdrop, we remain confident of delivering a performance in line with market expectations for 2016.”
A further update on the company’s progress will be provided in its interim results announcement on 21 July, 2016.
