July 6 (SeeNews) - Austria's Wienerberger has abandoned its plan to acquire Romanian brick producer Brikston Construction Solutions International from private equity fund ADM Capital in order to grow its Romanian business organically, Wienerberger said on Friday.
The Austrian-based building materials producer has also withdrawn the application submitted to the Romanian anti-trust authority, it said in a press release.
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The company will step up the pace of its growth in Romania by expanding its current business and by investing in existing production sites.
ADM Capital agreed to sell Brikston in October 2017 for an undisclosed sum.
"Our goal is to strengthen our industrial platforms and accelerate our growth. We are excellently positioned in Romania and see attractive opportunities for growth with our existing portfolio. We therefore focus on expanding our structures through organic growth projects. At the same time, I do not exclude the future possibility of broadening our local portfolio through diversification into other building materials," Wienerberger CEO Heimo Scheuch said.
Romania is one of the biggest markets in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and has a healthy and growing residential construction market, as bricks are among the most popular and most frequently used building materials in the country, Wienerberger said.
„In its role as innovation leader, Wienerberger has played a significant role in the Romanian construction sector during the past 20 years. We invested consistently in our Romanian activities and intend to continue on this path by expanding our existing production sites. Our main focus will be on deepening our customer relationships and on the further development of innovative products and digital technologies”, Scheuch added.
Established in 1967 as a state-owned company and privatized in 1994, Brikston serves the Romanian construction industry with a wide product portfolio consisting of hollow bricks, full bricks, facade and decorative products in various colours and dimensions. Headquartered in Iasi, in eastern Romania, Brikston has a large distribution network targeting most of Romania as well as exports to neigbouring Moldova and Ukraine.
ADM Capital acquired a 98% stake in Brikston in July 2014, through its CEECAT Recovery Fund launched in 2011.
Wienerberger has been present in Romania since 1998 and is one of the major building materials producers in the country. The company operates six production sites for clay blocks and concrete pavers and employs a workforce of about 470 people. In 2017, Wienerberger Romania generated revenues of over 76 million euro ($88.8 million).
($= 0.8558 euro)