Thomas Gruppe has confirmed the acquisition of Opterra Zement GmbH and Opterra Beton GmbH (east Germany), which have been owned by CRH Plc since 2015 as part of the pre-merger bulk acquisition of certain Lafarge and Holcim assets.
CIC-Market Solutions estimates Opterra's cement sales to be close to EUR110m. The transaction amount has not been disclosed but is unlikely to exceed EUR200m. CRH previously tried to sell this asset to Schwenk Zement KG in 2017 (transaction value of the main asset, the east German Karsdorf cement plant, estimated in 2017 at EUR270-280m), but the deal was opposed by the competition authority, Bundeskartellamt. Since then, the tightening of the CO2 legislation and the deficit in allocations/emissions of this cement plant with a single active kiln of 1.2Mta have probably reduced the fair value of Karsdorfer Zement, claims CIC-Market Solutions.
Furthermore, note that Thomas Gruppe, a company with a family tradition, already has a grinding plant in Dornburg in Thuringia and has acquired the Erwitte plant of the Seibel & Söhne group in the Rhineland. This transaction is a significant step forward and, by contributing to the necessary consolidation of the German cement market, should help to consolidate price increases (announced to be between EUR15-50/t on 1 November, depending on the operators).
