Concrete proposal
15 Jan 2000
Cement manufacturer Rugby Group was mulling over a takeover bid as Process Engineering went to press - the second bid for a UK construction sector company within a week. Rugby has so far declined to identify the bidder.
According to analysts, the most likely bidders are foreign: Irish building materials group CRH, Lafarge, the French building materials group, UScement producer Southdown and Germany's Dyckerhoff. The company has become an attractive bid target since its management decided to refocus on its cement and lime operations, and the incipient start-up of a new kiln at its Rugby headquarters is set to make it the lowest-cost cement producer in the UK.
* Crushed-rock producer Tarmac has dismissed a bid from South American firm Anglo-American as undervaluing the company by some 10 per cent.
