The Swiss company is considering more acquisitions to boost its products and solutions business in the North American business, according to CEO Jan Jenisch, who said in a media interview that ZURICH Reuters Holcim's North American business is on track to represent half of the cement maker's sales.
According to Jenisch, Holcim wants to grow its solutions and products division to around 30% of group sales by the year 2025.
The firm confirmed the comments to Reuters.
Jenisch was quoted as saying in an interview published on Wednesday that we're well on track there, and it can grow further.
I hope we get one or two more good acquisition opportunities. The three equally important pillars of the Cement, Aggregates Concrete, and Solutions Products should account for a third of revenues over a few years. The biggest market for Holcim's business in the United States is Holcim's Solutions and Products, which provides products used in waterproofing, roofing and insulation, is already the biggest market, according to Jenisch, Holcim's biggest market.
He said that there were more than $3 billion in sales in the roofing business. The roofing, facade and mortar systems segments are huge markets.
The roofing business alone has a market volume of $30 billion in the U.S. and is worth $50 billion together with Europe and Latin America. The market is attractive, allowing good growth and high margins. Holcim acquired a fiberglass matt facility in the United States to bolster its roofing business and 13 sand and aggregate quarries in the Denver, Phoenix and Colorado Springs regions this week.
Jenisch said that the company could move into facade manufacturing in future via acquisitions.
Holcim, which has reduced its emerging market exposure from 50% of sales to around 20%, was not under pressure to sell its Philippines business, where a planned divestment collapsed in 2020.
At the time, a sale of the business was important because it had a transaction value of $2.1 billion and we needed money to pay down debt, Jenisch said.
Pressure no longer exists. We are the market leader in the Philippines and we are making money.