Lone Star initiates Forterra exit with £360m London IPO

The flotation valued the company at £360m, making Forterra the second largest bricks producer in Britain. The offering comprised the sale of 70 million existing shares, at 180 cents apiece. The offering represented 35% of the company's shares.

The selling shareholders granted Deutsche Bank, as stabilising manager, an overallotment option of up to 10.5 million ordinary shares, representing 15% of the offered shares.

Credit Suisse Securities acted as joint coordinator and bookrunner. Deutsche Bank acted as joint coordinator, bookrunner and sponsor, while Citigroup Global Markets acted as bookrunner.

According to press reports, the UK's residential construction market – including new builds, repair, maintenance and improvement – accounted for 95% of the group's revenue in 2015. The remaining 5% is attributed to the UK commercial construction market.

Forterra's flotation comes six months after the IPO of the UK's largest brick manufacturer, Ibstock, which was previously owned by Bain Capital. Ibstock was valued at £770.5m in its listing.

Previous investment
Lone Star acquired Forterra, formerly known as Hanson Building Products, from former German parent Heidelberg Cement for $1.4bn in December 2014.

Company
Established in 2014 and headquartered in Northampton, Forterra produces bricks and aircrete blocks for the UK market. The business is the sole manufacturer of Fletton red bricks.

In 2015, Forterra generated a turnover of £290m with £71m of EBITDA. It has 1,600 employees.

People
Forterra – Stephen Harrison (CEO).

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• Topics
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• Southern Europe
• United Kingdom
• Lone Star Funds
• IPO