Hanson accepts £8bn takeover bid

UK building materials firm Hanson has agreed to an £8bn ($15.8bn; 11.7bn euros) takeover bid from Germany's biggest cement maker HeidelbergCement, reported the BBC.

The deal will create the world's second-largest company in the sector, employing more than 70,000 people.

Hanson has accepted a cash offer of 1,100 pence per share.

The deal marks the end of a firm which was built into a multinational in the 1970s and 1980s by founder Lord Hanson and his business partner, Lord White.

Hanson developed into a tobacco-to-timber conglomerate worth £11bn in the 1980s.

However, in 1996, the decision was taken to split up the business into four separate companies, with the Hanson name heading the heavy buildings materials business.

Hanson is one of the world's largest suppliers of heavy building materials to the construction industry. Its products include aggregates, such as crushed rock and sand, and building goods, such as pipes and bricks.

In 2006, it had a turnover of £4.1bn. It employs about 26,000 people and has its main operations in the UK, North America and Australia.

HeidelbergCement is a major producer of buildings materials, with its core products including cement and ready-mixed concrete.

It employs about 46,000 people in more than 50 countries. In 2006 it had revenues of more than 9bn euros.

HeidelbergCement's chief executive Dr Bernd Scheifele said the two firms were a "perfect fit".

"We believe that the combined business will be better able to respond to the evolving needs of its customers in the competitive and rapidly consolidating global building products industry."

Hanson chief executive Alan Murray has been asked to join the top management of the German company, with his role likely to be include responsibility for US and Australian operations.

The chairman of Hanson, Mike Welton, said the offer represented "very good value" for shareholders.

"Hanson and HeidelbergCement are highly complementary businesses and together will become one of the world's leading building materials suppliers."