The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Fife and Angus firms trade assets in multi-million-pound deal
Long-established Fife company Tillicoultry Quarries has been able to expand its operations on both sides of the border due to a recent £12.2 million acquisition from Breedon.
The deal will be a boost going forward to the growing Kincardine on Forth business, which has just reported a rise in annual turnover, pre-tax profits and staff numbers.
The Breedon transaction follows on from that group’s £178m agreement with Cemex at the start of last year to enhance its position as a leading construction materials group in Britain and Ireland.
Breedon, which has its Scottish headquarters at Ethiebeaton in Angus, was taking over a variety of Cemex assets, including 49 ready-mix plants, 28 aggregate quarries, four depots, one cement terminal, 14 asphalt plants and four concrete products operations.
Nearly 20 of the facilities were in Scotland, where Breedon already has a strong presence.
However, the Cemex acquisition faced a hurdle raised by the Competition and Markets Authority.
The CMA found the deal gave rise to concerns in relation to the supply of ready-mixed concrete, nonspecialist aggregates or asphalt in 15 local markets across the UK.
It added that the Breedon-cemex merger could make it easier for cement suppliers in the east of Scotland to align their behaviour, without necessarily entering into any express agreement or direct communication, in a way that limited the rivalry between them.
Breedon subsequently announced the Tillicoultry transaction. It said it was divesting assets to address the CMA’S competition concerns.
The 14 sites going to Tillicoultry include two sand and gravel quarries in Collessie and Loanleven, plus a cement terminal in Dundee. The three Scottish sites employ around a dozen people.
Wallace Menzies, director of Tillicoultry, said: “The purchase of these 14 new sites will allow Tillicoultry Quarries to continue to build on and invest in our existing capabilities, enhancing our offering with more of our core products and opening up in new locations.”
The family-owned firm was established in 1931 by RW Menzies at Craigfoot Quarry in Tillicoultry.
It has grown from small beginnings to become one of the largest suppliers of quarry materials in Scotland.
Tillicoultry is proud of its reputation for quality products and service excellence.
The company’s results for the year to the end of last
March showed turnover had moved up by more than £1m to £58.4m, while pre-tax profits rose to £7.2m from £6.6m.
Staff numbers during the latest financial year were also ahead – by 17 to 185.
Tillicoultry says it continues to grow, building on its successes, and transforming the supply and delivery of aggregates and other construction material through its investments in plant, equipment and people.
Breedon chief executive Pat Ward said after the Tillicoultry deal: “We are very pleased with the outcome of this process and believe it is in the best interests of all stakeholders.
“It allows Breedon to release fair value for the assets disposed of which, together with the people employed in them, will be in good hands under new ownership of Tillicoultry Quarries.”