Lafarge North America Inc. has sold its gypsum wallboard plant in Buchanan to a Texas-based private equity firm for $55.7 million.
The deal, which closed in September, was part of Lafarge North America”™s sale of its gypsum division assets to Lone Star Funds, a private equity firm in Dallas that invests globally in distressed assets. The division sale, announced in June by Lafarge”™s parent company in Paris, had an enterprise value of $700 million.
Lafarge North America”™s network of gypsum plants in the U.S. and Canada had sales of $310 million in 2012, the company reported.
Lafarge declared its gypsum operations for sale in 2011 and said it would focus on its core businesses on cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete. The sale reportedly was a move by the global construction materials manufacturer and supplier to repair its credit rating, which had fallen below investment grade.
