Building materials group Ready- mix is in talks to sell part of the company. Barry O'Halloranreports
The company announced yesterday that it "has been in discussions with a potential buyer with regard to a possible disposal of selective parts of the group's concrete products division". But it added that there was no certainty a deal would be done as a result of the talks.
Readymix's precast concrete business, which trades under the Finlay Breton banner, is understood to be the focus of the talks.
It did not name the potential buyer, but industry sources suggested yesterday that it may be part of the Ashton Concrete group, which has operations in Britain and Northern Ireland. The company said it would not comment.
Readymix did not put a value on the businesses it is selling.
The talks have been under way for some time. It is also understood its facility at Naas, Co Kildare, will not be included in the sale, but other divisions within the concrete business will be.
Readymix operates as Cemex Ireland since the Irish company took on the Mexican-based multi-national's technology and manufacturing systems last year.
The agreement runs for an initial three years and had an up-front cost of €3.7 million with estimated running costs of €2.3 million a year. At its annual general meeting in Dublin recently, chairman Adrian Auer told shareholders the new systems were up and running and delivering cost savings.
In 2006, the group grew operating profits by 25 per cent to €41.8 million from €33.4 million the previous year. Profit before tax was up 30 per cent at €43 million from €32 million. Cemex reported recently that earnings in the first three months of the year grew 6 per cent to $868 million.
