SigmaRoc PLC (LON:SRC), a buy-and-build construction materials group, said it signed a joint venture agreement with major Calais-based high-grade limestone and construction materials company, Carrières du Boulonnais (CB).
CB is part of Groupe Carrières du Boulonnais (Groupe CB), a family run business which has become a 25% shareholder in Granulats du Hainaut (GduH) with the aim of expanding GduH into a Benelux and Northern France wide supplier of limestone products.
GduH is SigmaRoc’s Benelux production and distribution subsidiary.
Groupe CB is a major operator in the French construction materials market. It runs a large network of quarries and concrete plants across France and is active in 30 countries via several joint ventures.
“It is a real privilege to sign a joint venture agreement with a quarried materials group of the renown of Groupe CB,” said SigmaRoc chief executive Max Vermorken.
“Our collaboration is strategically, technically and financially a major step forward as we build our footprint in the Benelux and North French markets. We thank Groupe CB for their confidence in SigmaRoc and aim to make our collaboration a real success."
CB will provide financial and technical assistance to help develop GduH and materially increase GduH's market presence in Benelux and Northern France and beyond. SigmaRoc will continue to wholly own its quarrying assets in Belgium.
CB will co-fund the new crushing and screening installations planned to be built by 2024 at GduH's aggregates operations at Carrières du Hainaut.
"We are very proud to become part of SigmaRoc development in Continental Europe,” said Gilles Poulain, Groupe CB’s chief executive. “The great quality of the knowhow we have found in Sigmaroc's teams is expected to put all of us on the track of success."