£243m deal makes BPB world leader

PLASTERBOARD products group BPB will become global leader in in its field following its £243m acquisition of the American-owned business of James Hardie. It plans to finance the deal partly with a £100m placing of 30m new ordinary shares through a bookbuilding exercise in London.

BPB shares added 1p to 355p as analysts predicted the deal will be earnings enhancing next year. Although the deal will double its market share in North America, BPB will still be in only third place there, the world's biggest plasterboard market.

James Hardie sold 2.2bn square feet of plasterboard last year, giving it a 7.5% share of the US market. It employs 600 and has a 50-year supply of gypsum.

BPB will add Hardie to its troubled US Celotex division, which suffered losses following the collapse of plasterboard prices in the US, giving it a total North American market share of 16%.

Chief executive Richard Cousins estimates that operating costs in the US will fall by $10m (£7.06m) in the next 18 months.

In a trading statement ahead of full-year figures due on 30 May, Cousins said pre-tax profits before exceptionals would be up by 5% to £145m.