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U.S. Concrete: A Missed Opportunity
7 years ago

ST. CROIX — U.S. Concrete, Inc. (NASDAQ: USCR) acquired Heavy Materials, LLC (“Heavy”) and the assets of Spartan Concrete Products, LLC (“Spartan”), two strategically integrated businesses located in the U.S. Virgin Islands serving key Caribbean markets with strong demand and consistent performance, a press release U.S. Concrete issued this morning has revealed

U.S. Concrete acquired Heavy from owners Douglas Gurlea, Shane Brunt and Tommy Brunt IV. Heavy is a primary producer of ready-mixed concrete and aggregates in the territory through four ready-mixed concrete batch plants, a fleet of 32 mixer trucks, and two quarries with total aggregates reserves of approximately 40 million tons, according to the release. On September 30, Heavy Material acquired Devcon International’s V.I. Cement and Building Products for $10.7 million in cash. V.I. Cement has a rock quarry and a ready-mix concrete plant here and a rock quarry and block manufacturing plant on St. Thomas.

Heavy also leases an industrial waterfront property that it utilizes as a marine terminal and sales yard. Heavy is a key aggregates supplier to Spartan, a leading local ready-mixed concrete producer, operating one batch plant and a fleet of 16 mixer trucks.

Spartan concrete was owned by St. Croix multimillionaire Warren Mosler until its sale to U.S. Concrete.

The combined operations of Heavy and Spartan creates a stronger vertically integrated platform to serve an extensive base of customers throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands and several other islands throughout the Caribbean, the release says. The end-market exposure of the combined operations is generally balanced across commercial, infrastructure and residential project activity, it added.

“These acquisitions are highly aligned with our strategic goal to establish leadership positions in resilient, attractive markets and further enhance our mix of vertically integrated operations,” said William J. Sandbrook, U.S. Concrete President and CEO. “We plan to create a more efficient operating dynamic in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Caribbean by combining the efforts of these two separately owned businesses into one cohesive unit. Additionally, the combined operations provide a highly strategic platform to capitalize on leading market positions and growing regional demand to serve as the supplier of choice. We are thrilled to welcome Heavy and Spartan to the U.S. Concrete family of companies.”

About U.S. Concrete, Inc.

U.S. Concrete, Inc. (the “Company” or “U.S. Concrete”) serves the construction industry in several major markets in the United States through its two business segments: ready-mixed concrete and aggregate products. The Company has 144 standard ready-mixed concrete plants, 16 volumetric ready-mixed concrete facilities, and 14 producing aggregates facilities. During 2014, U.S. Concrete sold approximately 5.7 million cubic yards of ready-mixed concrete and approximately 4.7 million tons of aggregates. For more information on U.S. Concrete, visit www.us-concrete.com.

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