Martin Marietta to buy Lhoist North America in $13.5 billion deal

Ward Nye, CEO, Martin Marietta Scott Mlyn | CNBC Martin Marietta Materials said on Monday it would merge with limestone supplier Lhoist North America in a cash-and-stock deal worth $13.5 billion, as ⁠the building ‌material firm looks to tap growing demand ⁠for lime products. Shares of the Raleigh, North Carolina-based company were down about 3% in premarket trade. Martin Marietta will use a mix of $7 billion in cash along with shares ‌valued at $6.5 billion to fund the deal, the company said. It expects to realize about $85 million in annual run-rate cost synergies. Martin ​Marietta CEO Ward Nye said demand for high-quality lime products is expected to remain resilient for decades to come, due to investment in infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, energy development and industrial ⁠expansion in the U.S. There has been a surge in dealmaking in the U.S. building-products industry ‌as the data center construction business booms, along ‌with new housing, repairs and renovations. Last week, Ireland's CRH said it would acquire Arcosa in an all-cash deal valued at about $8.5 billion, in a bid ⁠to capitalize on rising demand for U.S. energy and utility infrastructure. Lhoist's Berghmans ⁠family - which owns the privately held Lhoist Group, a ⁠Belgian industrial company - would own roughly 15% of Martin Marietta upon the deal's close. …