NewsBite

CSR Limited

November 2024

Wes Maas at the Maas Group’s company headquarters in Dubbo. It announced on November 28 the acquisition of three businesses - Cleary Bros in NSW, Capital Asphalt in the ACT and a quarry and land holding just outside of Melbourne.

One of the few remaining building groups on the ASX hits the gas

Maas Group was founded by former Rabbitohs player Wes Maas two decades ago. With three acquisitions in one day, it is turbocharging its expansion plans.

  • Simon Evans
Joe Bartolo, founder and CEO of civil construction and heavy equipment hire group Symal.

From one wheelbarrow and a ute to a $437m ASX listing

Symal Group founder Joe Bartolo started from humble beginnings in 2001 to build his construction group into a large enough player to float on the exchange this year.

  • Simon Evans

October 2024

Irish giant CRH has been a major player in the wave of consolidation sweeping Australian construction and building groups.

Irish giant CRH to buy CPE Capital-backed concrete infrastructure biz

Civilmart is the country’s No.2 manufacturer of concrete pipes and precast products, backed by John Haddock’s buyout firm CPE Capital. 

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

August 2024

James Hardie sells fashionable wall cladding products as buyers switch from brick and masonry walls, but overall demand across the housing construction market is soft.

James Hardie battles weak demand in Australian reno market

Renovators are holding off on big projects because of high building costs and economic uncertainty, but the building products maker expects an improvement in 2025.

  • Simon Evans

July 2024

CSR is the manufacturer of one of the most popular insulation products in the country, known as Bradford.

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
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Saint-Gobain boss Benoit Bazin is in Australia to take the keys to the country’s biggest plasterboard manufacturer.

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 2024

Housing construction has slowed substantially amid high interest rates and cost-of-living pressures.

$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 CEO Julie Coates and chairman John Gillam.

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
Samantha Hogg, deputy chairwoman and lead independent director of cement group Adbri, chaired the meeting at which shareholders voted in favour of a $2.1b buyout by Irish group CRH.

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
CSR CEO Julie Coates at the group’s North Ryde offices in Sydney.

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 2024

James Hardie CEO Aaron Erter says Australia is a “very challenging market right now”.

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
Big bosses from left: NAB CEO Andrew Irvine, Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott, CSR CEO Julie Coates, Harvey Norman executive chairman Gerry Harvey.

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
CSR chief executive Julie Coates says Gyprock, Bradford and Hebel are the company’s key brands.

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 2024

Building activity for detached housing in Australia tumbled by 18 per cent in the December half.

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
Seven Group Holdings CEO Ryan Stokes is also the chairman of Boral.

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
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February 2024

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
Cement maker Adbri, previously known as Adelaide Brighton, has agreed to a $2.1 billion buyout from Irish group CRH.

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
When CSR boss Julie Coates returned to work in early January, an important matter landed on her desk.

$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
Julie Coates has lifted CSR’s margins in recent years

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
CSR CEO Julie Coates: “Strong strategic and cultural alignment.”

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

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/company/csr-ga