Quikrete is buying Irving’s Forterra for $2.74 billion and taking it private

Quikrete Holdings Inc. will acquire Irving-based water and drainage pipe manufacturer Forterra Inc. in a $2.74 billion take-private transaction announced Monday morning.

Atlanta-based Quikrete will acquire all outstanding shares of Forterra for $24 a share in an all-cash transaction that the companies expect to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, the companies said Monday.

For Quikrete, the acquisition marks an opportunity to expand its capabilities in the potable water distribution market with CEO Will Magill calling the transaction “an ideal strategic fit.”

Forterra went public through an initial public offering in 2016 after being acquired by global private equity firm Lone Star Funds in 2015.

The Irving company is the largest producer of residential and non-residential concrete drainage pipe and precast products by sales volume in the U.S. and Eastern Canada. It operates nearly 60 manufacturing facilities and employs 4,500 workers. The company posted sales of more than $1.2 billion for the nine-month period that ended Sept. 30.

“We look forward to working with Quikrete to build on our positive momentum and achieve even greater success together,” Forterra CEO Karl Watson Jr. said in a statement.

Watson became CEO in June 2019 after former chief executive Jeff Bradley resigned following a lawsuit from investors that alleged he and several other officers and board members pursued high-cost acquisitions and ballooned company debt to $1.2 billion without a plan for organic growth.

Family-owned Quikrete, founded in 1940, is famous for brands that include Quikrete-branded concrete mix, Spec Mix, QPR, Pavestone, Custom Building Products, Rinker Materials, and Contech Engineered Solutions.

Though the transaction will make Forterra a private company once completed later this year, it plans to publicly release quarterly results as planned on Feb. 24.

“The Forterra board of directors unanimously determined that entering into this agreement with Quikrete and becoming a private company again is the best path forward to maximize value,” Forterra board chairman Chris Meyer said in a statement.