Blackstone, others invest $780M in building venture

A consortium that includes The Blackstone Group, Silverhawk Capital Partners and Charles Goodyear, former CEO of BHP Billiton, has invested up to $780 million in a newly formed company created to acquire building materials businesses, the investors announced last week.

The new company, named Summit Materials, will be led by Tom Hill, the former CEO of Oldcastle Inc., the U.S. division of Ireland-based building material group CRH.

“Over the next 18 to 24 months we envision making a number of acquisitions,” Neil Simpkins, senior managing director at Blackstone, told Reuters. He said the group is looking at a pipeline of about 10 transactions.

Simpkins said likely acquisition targets are privately held businesses in several regions around the country, and assets that large multinational building product companies may be selling to reduce debt.

Summit Materials said its first acquisition is Hamm Inc., a privately held landfill, asphalt and construction company based in Perry, Kan. That deal is a platform for future growth and development in the American Midwest, the firm said. —Megan Davies, Reuters