Cement Australia, Holcim and HMA's proposed acquisition of BGC Cementitious

Summary

Cement Australia (Queensland) Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Cement Australia Holdings Pty Ltd (Cement Australia)), Holcim (Australia) Pty Ltd (Holcim) and Heidelberg Materials Australia Pty Ltd (HMA) propose to acquire BGC Australia Pty Ltd’s (BGC Group) cement, quarry, ready-mix concrete, asphalt, transport and materials technology centre assets (BGC Cementitious).

Cement Australia is a privately held 50:50 joint venture between Holcim and HMA. The operations of Cement Australia are governed by an existing Framework Agreement which establishes ring-fencing as between Cement Australia, Holcim and HMA, putting in place restrictions to prevent Holcim and HMA from accessing information about the sale of cementitious products by Cement Australia to each other party to the joint venture or to other customers.

Cement Australia supplies cementitious products and services, including bulk and packaged cement, fly ash and slag products. It has operations in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, ACT, Western Australia and Tasmania. Cement Australia does not have any cement or slag production facilities in Western Australia.

Holcim is a Swiss multinational company that manufactures and supplies various building materials across Australia, including aggregates, concrete and pre-cast pipes. Holcim owns and operates a number of concrete plants and quarries in Western Australia

HMA is a German multinational company that manufactures and supplies various building materials across Australia, including aggregates, concrete and asphalt. HMA owns and operates a number of concrete plants and quarries in Western Australia.

BGC Cementitious is a division of the BGC Group, which supplies cementitious products in Western Australia including cement, aggregates, concrete and asphalt.

Cement Australia, Holcim, HMA and BGC Cementitious overlap in the supply of various construction materials including cement, aggregates, concrete and / or asphalt in Western Australia.

The BGC Cementitious assets are proposed to be allocated between the acquiring parties as follows:

• BCG’s cement assets will be acquired and operated by Cement Australia.
• BGC’s quarry and asphalt assets will be acquired and operated by a new 50:50 joint venture between Holcim and HMA, which will operate as a production joint venture in respect of aggregates.
• Eight of BGC’s RMX sites in greater Perth will be divided between Holcim and HMA (4 sites each). Cement Australia proposes to divest one RMX site.

Market inquiries

Submissions are invited from interested parties regarding Cement Australia, Holcim and HMA’s proposed acquisition of BGC Cementitious by 5pm on 25 February 2025.

Submissions should be forwarded electronically (preferably in PDF format) to mergers@accc.gov.au. 

For more details, please refer to the Market Inquiries Letter published below. 

Following 25 February 2025, queries regarding the ACCC’s review may also be addressed to mergers@accc.gov.au.