Company’s corporate parent sells paving unit

The Italian corporate parent of Cheshire-based Lane Construction Co. has sold its U.S.-based paving division for $555 million, company officials said Monday.

The sale of Lane’s Plants and Paving division to Eurovia SAS, a French engineering and construction company, is subject to a number of regulatory approvals. Officials with Salini Impregilo Group, Lane’s corporate parent, said the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

Pietro Salini, chief executive officer of the Salini Impregilo Group, said the sale of the Plants and Paving division allows the Italian company to focus more on Lane Construction and its core business.

“We are divesting an asset that is not strategic for us as we consolidate the growth of Lane, a company that is destined to become a development pole for the Group in North America in all segments of large, complex infrastructure — from transport to tunneling to water,” Salini said in a statement. “From an industrial perspective, the sale of the Plants and Paving division will allow Lane to reorganize itself and

“From an industrial perspective, the sale of the Plants and Paving division will allow Lane to reorganize itself and focus on big public projects.” Pietro Salini, chief executive officer of the Salini Impregilo Group

focus on big public projects. (Lane Construction) already has a backlog of about $3 billion, revenue of about $1.4 billion in the United States excluding the division ... and stable cash generation.”

The United States is Salini Impregilo’s single biggest market by revenue, according to company officials, and its goal is to increase the amount generated in North America within the next three years.

Salini said the price at which the Plants and Paving division was sold at is $100 milion more than the Italian company paid to acquire all of Lane’s lines of business three years ago.

Lane’s Plants and Paving division specializes in hot mix asphalt construction and has about 45 plants around the United where it produces the substance. In addition, those manufacturing facilities sell hot mix asphalt to suit the needs of private and commercial customers.

The division has 12 hot mix asphalt plants in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but none in Connecticut.

Lane Construction is a top federal contractor for roads and highways.