Auctions, Used Equipment, Rental & Finance

IronPlanet, the online marketplace for buying and selling used heavy equipment and trucks, and Associated Auction Services, an alliance of Caterpillar and several of its independent Cat dealers, that operates under the name of Cat Auction Services, has confirmed that they have signed an agreement to merge the two companies.

Once combined, IronPlanet and Cat Auction Services will provide buyers and sellers of used heavy construction equipment a unique auction experience, backed by technology, services and

ASA CONS, a Romanian producer of concrete products owned by the French group Consolis, estimates that its turnover will reach around RON 62million (€14.01 million/US$ 17.24 million) in 2015, similar to the sales recorded in 2014.

The company forecasts a 40% rise in sales in 2014, from previous year.

ASA CONS is involved in projects such as the construction of Shopping Center Targu-Jiu, developed by NEPI, and the construction of the Reci wood processing factory by Holzindustrie Schweighofer.

French industrial minerals specialist Imerys has completed a €500 million bond issue due to mature in December 2024 with an annual coupon of 2%, as well as a €100 million tap at 2.5% which is due to mature in November 2020.

Both operations, which were aimed at raising funds to finance the acquisition of S&B's activities, were well received by markets, being 2.5 times oversubscribed.

Imerys recently signed the absorption of Greece’s S&B Industrial Minerals in one of the biggest international deals in t

The Swiss-owned construction materials company Holcim is said to have decided to sell its Hungarian unit, Holcim Hungary, which has 16 branch offices.

The step is needed as the company has recently gained a dominant position in several European markets following the merger plans with its French competitor Lafarge.

The sale transaction may be completed in the second half of 2015. The potential buyer is a multi-national group.

Arkan Building Materials Co has unveiled its AED 1.30 billion (€282.18 million/US$353.94 million) Al Ain Cement Factory.

Dubbed as the largest in the UAE, the cement factory will be catering for growing demand for building materials and cement in the local market. The factory has a cement production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes/year that could be raised to 5.6 million tonnes/year, followed by a clinker production of 900,000tonnes/year that could rise to 4 million tonnes/year.

The Commercial Court of the Kemerovo region (Siberia), Russia, has initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Kuznetsk Cement Plant (Novokuznetsk, Siberia), part of United Ce millionent Group).

The claimed debt of the company has not been disclosed.

In Estonia, the Ministry of the Environment’s proposed surge in environmental taxes, including the tax on the extraction of mineral resources, would increase the cost of the high-speed railway Rail Baltica significantly.

According to a survey commissioned by the Ministry of the Economic Affairs, the 10% hike in the cost of the track ballast for building the trackbed for 211km of rail tracks for Rail Baltica would significantly increase the building cost of the link.

The Ministry of the Environment is