Welsh Slate sold to UK-based Breedon Group in £455m deal
WELSH Slate has been sold as part of a £455m deal.
Construction firm Lagan Group – which includes the north Wales slate business – has been sold to the UKbased Breedon Group.
Welsh Slate is the world’s leading supplier of high-quality slate products and employs around 200 workers at a group of quarries in north Wales.
The company’s main site is at Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda.
Breedon Group said it expects to achieve annual cost synergies across the group of approximately £5m by the third full year following completion.
The Daily Post has asked the company to comment further on any potential plans for Welsh Slate.
The Unite union said that staff at Welsh Slate will receive briefings this week on the sale.
Unite’s regional officer Paddy McNaught said: “Breedon are a wellestablished company with a good track record.
“We are hopeful this will be positive for Welsh Slate and the future of the sites in north Wales.”
The business in its current format was bought in December 2007 for £31m from Alfred McAlpine, who, since the 1960s, had expanded the business from its headquarters at Penrhyn Quarry to include operations at Blaenau Ffestiniog, Cwt-yBugail and Pen yr Orsedd.
The combination of the Breedon and Lagan groups is expected to create a leading independent construction materials group in the UK and Ireland.