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(Alliance News) - SigmaRoc PLC on Wednesday said it has agreed to buy Belgian sea defence rock quarrying firm Stone Holdings SA for up to EUR2.2 million in cash and shares.
Stone operates two quarries, a wharf and a contracting business in Belgium, focussing on armour rock for river and sea defence work. For 2018, Stone reported a pretax profit of EUR355,000.
The AIM-listed building materials company said the acquisition price comprises of EUR1.3 million in staged consideration and EUR900,000 of assumed debt. Whilst the aggregate consideration will remain fixed, SigmaRoc said the exact proportion of cash and new shares to be issued as consideration is expected to be determined during the final quarter of 2019.
The acquisition of Stone will offer SigmaRoc an operating hub in the Benelux region, from which the company said it can expand.
In conjunction with the conditional acquisition of Stone, SigmaRoc said it will appoint Jacques Emsens as a non-executive director. Emsens currently serves on the board of Sibelco and on the board of Sofina, both are Belgium's investment companies.
Looking ahead, SigmaRoc said, in addition to the conditional Stone acquisition, it has further "exciting" opportunities, including certain transactions which it believes are capable of completion during 2019.
The company is also planning to exercise its option to acquire the remaining 60% of quarrying group GDH Holdings Ltd during the fourth quarter of 2019, such that GDH will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SigmaRoc.
"Subject to obtaining shareholder approvals, we look forward to updating the market regarding our exciting acquisition pipeline over the coming months," said SigmaRoc Chair David Barrett.
SigmaRoc shares were trading 2.0% higher in London on Wednesday at 41.00 pence each.
