Australian company buys South Jordan's Headwaters Inc. in $2.6 billion deal

Headwaters Inc., a building products company based in South Jordan, has announced its acquisition by Boral Ltd. of Sydney, Australia. Boral will pay $24.25 per share in cash, which represents an aggregate value of approximately $2.6 billion.

Boral is Australia’s largest building and construction materials supplier and has an existing presence in the North American building and construction materials industry, with strong positions in bricks, concrete and clay roof tiles; manufactured stone and fly ash; and a developing light building products business. Boral is listed on the Australian Stock Market.

Under the terms of the transaction, Headwaters’ stockholders will receive $24.25 per share in cash, which represents a 21 percent premium to Headwaters’ closing stock price on Nov. 18 and a 34 percent premium over Headwaters’ 30-day volume-weighted average closing stock price through Nov. 18.

Kirk A. Benson, chairman and chief executive officer of Headwaters, said, “This is a compelling transaction that delivers significant value to our shareholders. Headwaters and Boral both have outstanding teams and share a common commitment to delivering a premier selection of high-quality products to our customers. We are looking forward to working with Boral to ensure a smooth transition for our stakeholders, as we create one of the leading suppliers of building products and construction materials for infrastructure, new residential, repair and remodel, commercial and institutional construction.”

“This agreed transaction is the result of significant evaluation and engagement between our companies,” said Mike Kane, Boral’s chief executive and managing director. “The businesses of Headwaters are highly complementary with Boral’s existing U.S. operations and the transaction price reflects our belief that there is strong commercial rationale for combining the two portfolios.”

The acquisition, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is subject to customary closing conditions, including Headwaters’ stockholder approval and regulatory approvals, and is expected to be completed in mid-calendar year 2017.

Headquarters was founded in 1987 as Cynsulo Inc. and has about 1,000 wholesale distributors nationwide.