NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Bridgestone Americas Inc. has reached an agreement to divest its Firestone Building Products unit. LafargeHolcim Ltd. will pay $3.4 billion to acquire the business, which provides commercial roofing and building envelope solutions throughout the U.S.
In a statement, Paolo Ferrari, Bridgestone Americas CEO, president and chief operating officer, said the strategic divestment of this unit will allow Nashville-based Bridgestone to better focus on its core tire and mobility businesses.
"This transaction will create new growth opportunities for Firestone Building Products and allow Bridgestone to focus its resources to further invest in the company's tire business and rapidly growing mobility solutions business," Ferrari said.
In a news release issued Jan. 7, LafargeHolcim said the purchase will be financed with cash and debt, while maintaining net debt below 2x.
According to the release, the Firestone Building Products unit had estimated net sales of $1.8 billion and EBITDA of $270 million in 2020.
For its part, LafargeHolcim expects the addition of the business unit to solidify and grow its position within the U.S.
"With Firestone Building Products we are strengthening our biggest market, the U.S., while also building a global growth and innovation platform for the company," LafargeHalcim CEO Jan Jenisch said in a statement. "Today's milestone is a strategic leap on our journey to become the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, to build a world that works for people and the planet."
Zug, Switzerland-based LafargeHalcim operates 2,300 sites and employs about 72,000 across 75 countries.
