ACCC statement re CSR and Boral Australian east coast brick operations

ACCC releases statement of issues regarding proposed joint venture of CSR and Boral’s Australian east coast brick operations

CSR Limited (CSR) and Boral Limited (Boral) announced today that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a Statement of Issues regarding the proposed joint venture to combine their brick operations located on the east coast of Australia announced on 4 April 2014.  Click here for a copy of the ACCC press release.

CSR and Boral are reviewing the Statement of Issues and will continue to engage with the ACCC to address issues identified.

CSR and Boral consider that the merits of the transaction are significant and that the transaction would not result in a substantial lessening of competition.

Australian brick manufacturers have experienced a sustained structural downward trend in demand for brick products over the past 30 years.  With bricks becoming an increasingly smaller component of the highly competitive cladding market, lower brick demand has resulted in declining capacity utilisation, reduced profitability, plant curtailments and closures.

The proposed transaction will enable both Boral and CSR to access additional operational and overhead efficiencies that would otherwise be unavailable to the parties acting independently. The joint venture will be a more sustainable business positioned to deliver returns that recover the cost of capital through building cycles.