Northern Irish quarrying group Kilwaughter Minerals has bought the Facades business of English premium building products company Alumasc for an initial £4.5m.
The Facades business principally supplies exterior wall insulation (EWI) systems which are used in the refurbishment of hard to heat homes in the public sector. This market has reduced in size following the cuts in funding provided by the ECO and Green Deal schemes in recent years.
Larne-based Kilwaughter is a £34m revenue group which operates a limestone quarry and is an existing supplier of mineral renders to the EWI industry in the UK. It says the acquistion of Alumasc Facades will provide it with an opportunity to expand its product offering in the construction market acroos trhe UK and Ireland.
Alumasc says that it believes Kilwaughter will be better placed to develop the Facades business by combining its greater operational scale and access to raw materials with Alumasc's strong range of system solutions and routes to market.
Kilwaughter Minerals MD Simon McDowell said: "The acquisition will provide us with a major growth opportunity to develop the business with our greater operational scale, access to raw materials and expertise in manufacturing."
The consideration comprises initial cash consideration received at completion of £4.5m, and potential deferred consideration of up to £1.5m receivable in a year's time, based on the performance of the Facaades business during that period. The proceeds of the transaction will be used by Alumasc to support the ongoing investment in its strategic growth initiatives.
The Alumasc business sold comprises all intangible assets and intellectual property; the sales, technical and purchasing functions; and warehousing operations based at a leased warehouse in Glasgow. Twenty Alumasc employees are being transferred to Kilwaughter.
Paul Hooper, chief executive of Alumasc, said: "We are pleased to have sold our Facades business to Kilwaughter. The sale will allow Alumasc to further develop its own portfolio of specialist building product businesses and use the funds to invest in our strategic growth initiatives."
