This Month
CSR’s ‘extraordinary’ insulation price rise could be gouging
A major distributor of the building materials giant’s products wants the company to hand over internal documents as it attempts to show misused of market power.
- Max Mason
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How a global giant plans to get bang for its buck at CSR
One of the ASX’s oldest companies, CSR, went out with a bang; now the games start over. This is how Saint-Gobain plans to make it in Australia.
- Anthony Macdonald
June
$11b swoop on ASX building giants leaves James Hardie the lone prize
The CSR, Boral and Adbri buyouts come at a low point in the construction cycle, with better times expected from mid-2025 once interest rate cuts arrive.
- Simon Evans
CSR ends 62-year run on ASX as $4.3b takeover gets green light
But some shareholders say that the price paid by France’s Saint-Gobain was too low, with a lower Australian dollar giving overseas buyers more firepower.
- Simon Evans
Weak dollar plays a part in $2.1b buyout of Adbri by Irish giant CRH
One of Australia’s largest cement groups will disappear from the ASX after 62 years, with one shareholder saying it was a “sad but predictable day”.
- Simon Evans
French giant Saint-Gobain wins FIRB approval for CSR buyout
The $4.3 billion takeover bid for the maker of Gyprock plasterboard and Monier bricks will be voted on by shareholders on June 13.
- Simon Evans
May
James Hardie in $3.5b wipeout on weaker housing outlook
The share price slumped 14.8 per cent, with CEO Aaron Erter expecting volumes to fall by about 5 per cent in Australia in what he calls a “very challenging” market.
- Simon Evans
CEOs to Labor: inflation still needs to be tamed
Measures to lift housing supply are being partly applauded, but a heavier push on curbing inflation seems to be missing in a two-speed economy.
- Simon Evans and Liam Walsh
Aluminium losses hit CSR ahead of Saint-Gobain $4.3b buyout
Shareholders will vote next month on the bid from Saint-Gobain, which must wrestle with a loss-making aluminium business hit hard by high energy costs.
- Simon Evans
March
Locked out home buyers need two rate cuts to have a chance
The MD of Brickworks says 13 rate rises, bureaucratic red tape and a 30pc jump in building material costs since mid-2022 have put detached housing out of reach.
- Updated
- Simon Evans
Boral independent directors say Stokes’ bid undervalues group
Boral’s minority shareholders were urged to reject Seven’s bid, based on an independent expert finding the shares are worth up to $7.13. Ryan Stokes disagrees.
- Updated
- Simon Evans
February
Saint-Gobain buys into CSR’s dark past along with its bright future
The French giant’s $4.3b takeover of the building products group, pivotal to Australia’s industrial development, isn’t without thorny issues.
- Simon Evans
Irish giant CRH’s $2.1b bid wins over Adbri
The independent directors of cement maker Adbri have agreed to the $3.20-per-share offer from NY-listed Irish group CRH.
- Simon Evans
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
$4.3b deal is a simple lesson in the benefits of good relationships
Saint-Gobain’s first approach arrived on CSR boss Julie Coates’ first day back after a summer break. Six weeks later, it’s a done deal.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
CSR’s patient rebuild leads to a French revolution
Julie Coates restructured the company’s operations and rebuilt its supply chain. The lift in margins those moves created helped seal a big takeover deal.
- James Thomson
French group Saint-Gobain wins over CSR board in $4.3b takeover
The CSR board is backing the $9 per share offer from the French group, which said it would explore options for CSR’s 25 per cent stake in the Tomago aluminium smelter.
- Simon Evans
C’est bizarre: CSR share trading post French approach raises eyebrows
CSR’s trading halt came through after the market had closed for the day, rendering it largely useless.
- Updated
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Saint-Gobain’s $4.3b bid for CSR two years in the making
Barrenjoey is not the only investment bank to land a spot on French giant Saint-Gobain’s $9-a-share bid for CSR Limited.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
CSR’s $4.3b French buyout bid ‘compelling’: shareholder
Fund manager Merlon Capital says the $9 per share proposal offers “compelling” value for one of Australia’s oldest companies.
- Simon Evans
French building giant lobs $4.3b bid for CSR
The European giant said late on Wednesday that it had succeeded in securing due diligence from the ASX-listed company’s board with the $9 a share offer.
- Kanika Sood