©Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A specialist trader works at the place where Martin Marietta Materials is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 6, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
(Reuters) – Construction materials supplier Martin Marietta said on Monday it will acquire 20 active aggregates businesses from Blue Water Industries for $2.05 billion in cash.
Construction aggregates are raw materials extracted from quarries and wells such as sand, gravel and crushed stone.
Demand for construction materials is on the rise, driven by continued improvements to roads, rails and other transportation infrastructure in the United States, facilitated by President Joe Biden’s administration’s $1 trillion package signed into law in 2021.
Blue Water, an aggregate and asphalt producer and paving contractor based in the southeastern United States, will continue to operate its aggregates operations in North Carolina and Central Florida and its marine terminal operations.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, the companies said.
Martin Marietta, which will announce fourth-quarter results later this week, will provide more details on the transaction during its post-earnings conference call.
North Carolina-based Martin Marietta operates more than 500 locations and provides aggregates through its network in 28 states, Canada and the Bahamas.
The company had said that during the third quarter its divestitures and sales would help it redeploy proceeds into pure-play aggregate acquisitions to strengthen operations.