FORM 6-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Pursuant to Rule 13a
- 16 or 15d - 16 of
The Securities and Exchange Act of 1934
For the Month of June, 2006
HANSON PLC
1 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7JH, England
[Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40F.]
Form 20-F X Form 40-F
[Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.]
Yes No X
June 19, 2006
Hanson completes acquisition of Material Service, a major US aggregates
producer, for $300 million (approximately £160m)
Hanson PLC, the international building materials company, announced today that
it has completed the acquisition of Material Service Corporation ('Material
Service') from General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE GD) for $300 million
(approximately £160m) in cash.
Agreement to acquire Material Service was announced on March 2, 2006. The
acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing for Hanson in the first full
year of ownership and will be financed from existing resources.
Material Service is the thirteenth largest producer of aggregates in the United
States and will be managed within Hanson Aggregates North America. Employing
more than 800 people in Illinois and western Indiana, it sold over 20 million US
tons of aggregates in 2005 and is estimated to have approximately 1.5 billion
tons of aggregate reserves. Material Service was established in 1919 by the
Crown family and Mr Lester Crown will remain in his current capacity as Chairman
of Material Service.
Alan Murray, Chief Executive of Hanson PLC, said: "We are pleased to have
completed this transaction and are delighted Lester Crown has agreed to remain
as Chairman. Since becoming a focused heavy building materials group in 1997, we
have invested around US$2.5 billion on over 50 bolt-on acquisitions in North
America. Material Service is the largest of these US dollar transactions and
reinforces our position as one of the leading aggregates producers in the USA."
Inquiries:
Hanson PLC Tel: +44 (0)20 7245 1245
Nick Swift / Hilary Reid Evans
Notes:
1. Hanson is one of the world's leading heavy building materials companies.
It is the largest producer of aggregates - crushed rock, sand and gravel -
and one of the largest producers of concrete products, clay bricks and
ready-mixed concrete in the world. Its other principal products include
asphalt and concrete roof tiles and its operations are in North America,
the UK, Australia, Asia Pacific and Continental Europe.
2. Hanson operates through six divisions: Hanson Aggregates North America,
Hanson Building Products North America, Hanson Aggregates UK, Hanson
Building Products UK, Hanson Australia & Asia Pacific and Hanson
Continental Europe.
3. Register for Hanson's e-mail distribution service for press releases and
notification of the publication of corporate reports via www.hanson.biz.
4. High-resolution Hanson images for editorial use are available from
www.hanson.biz and from www.pixmedia.co.uk/30/company.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorised.
HANSON PLC
By:
/s/ Graham Dransfield
Date: June 19, 2006