France's Saint Gobain has agreed to buy BPB for £3.89 billion (€5.7 billion) in cash after raising its offer to win control of the UK firm's fast-growing plasterboard business.
Saint Gobain, the world's biggest building materials supplier, said today the two sides agreed that it would pay 775 pence a share, up from its previous offer of 720p.
The figure is a 51 per cent premium to BPB's share price on July 20th, the day before the British firm was put in an offer period.
BPB, the world's biggest plasterboard maker, had mounted a robust defence against Saint Gobain's previous bids, pledging to return £600 million to investors, boost dividends and increase underlying earnings by at least 10 per cent over the medium term.
BPB is benefiting from growing demand for plasterboard in developed countries to meet tighter building regulations, including for fire prevention.
Growth in emerging markets is even stronger as rising labour costs discourage traditional building methods and as western-style architecture gains in popularity.