CRH’s surprise move on CPE Capital’s Civilmart

Civilmart manufactures concrete poles, sleepers and water quality products.

A move by CRH to buy CPE Capital’s Civilmart business has raised eyebrows in the industrial sector, given that the business contains the assets that were previously part of Rocla Pipes.

Rocla was sold to CPE Capital in 2021 for about $56.5m by Fletcher Building. At the time, the technology linked to the asset was considered somewhat outdated, which may have been a motivating factor for the sale.

The understanding around the market is that CPE Capital was commanding a price between $100m and $500m and probably for $200m to $250m.

CPE merged the Rocla business with its Civilmart operation, which is likely to have made it more appealing.

Together, the offering controls 17 manufacturing facilities along the east coast and in South Australia.

Civilmart also has facilities that manufacture concrete poles, sleepers and water quality products.

CRH, which owns AdBri, sells cement, aggregates, lime, concrete and asphalt products around the globe.

CRH outlaid $2.1bn buying AdBri in the past year.

It’s believed to be among the bidders for the $800m privately held Perth building materials empire BGC, on offer through Macquarie Capital.

Many are interested to see how it navigates Australian Competition & Consumer Commission challenges in the auction, given its market concentration in Australia.

One of the parties keen to take a look early on was Australian listed cement company Wagners, but it was excluded from the mix, while there’s chatter that a suitor from India may be in the competition.

Mitsubishi Chemical also looked, while Seven Group’s Boral is bidding, and Cement Australia is believed to be in the mix.

BGC, based in Perth, has a cement grinding terminal, quarries and concrete, and generates between $60m and $80m of annual earnings.