24 September 2013
BREEDON AGGREGATES LIMITED
("Breedon" or the "Company")
OFT Review of Scottish Acquisition
As previously announced by Breedon, on 30th April 2013 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) informed the Company that it wished to review the recent acquisition of Aggregate Industries (AI) business in northern Scotland to decide whether there were competition issues which required referral to the Competition Commission (CC) for further examination. The OFT has today announced that, following its investigation, it believes that there are some competition issues which it considers require further examination by the CC.
Breedon has conducted an extensive examination of the market and believes strongly that there are only minor issues in one product area which may require disposal of a limited number of individual assets. Breedon believes that its view is consistent with the findings of the CC in their recent market review and the criteria applied to the Anglo American/Lafarge merger in 2012.
The main investigation by the CC is expected to last for up to six months. Further announcements will be made as appropriate in due course.
Current trading in the Group remains strong and in line with current market expectations, and a further update will be given in the Group's pre-close trading update on 26 November 2013.
Enquiries:
Breedon Aggregates Limited
Simon Vivian, Group Chief Executive
01332 694010
Stephen Jacobs, Head of Communications
07831 764592
Cenkos Securities plc (NOMAD)
Max Hartley
020 7397 8900
