A century-old Iowa brick and tile manufacturer was acquired last month by a company hoping to make further inroads into the U.S. building materials market.
The Sioux City Journal reports that Brickworks Limited, the largest brick producer in Australia, made an unsolicited offer for Sioux City Brick & Tile Co. The deal marks Brickworks’ second U.S. acquisition following its 2018 purchase of western Pennsylvania brick maker Glen-Gery Co.
Sioux City Brick officials told the paper that the company was not looking to sell at the time, but hinted that the $32 million deal was too good to pass up.
"It was a strategic buy for them,” Joe Hanson, the company’s general counsel, told the paper. "These guys are coming in to consolidate part of the industry.”
Sioux City Brick, which had been privately owned, dates to 1913 after a merger of northwestern Iowa brick companies. The company reportedly employs between 150 and 175 workers at its offices in Sioux City and Des Moines and plants near each of those cities.
The company upgraded its Sergeant Bluff and Adel production facilities with innovative kilns, industrial robots, and other technology in 1997 and 2001, respectively. A new plant was opened in Adel in 2007.
The company, according to the paper, sells about 90 million bricks per year but has enough capacity to make 160 million. Although the merger could result in "normal consolidation,” Sioux City Brick CEO Mark Mahoney told the Journal they "only expect good changes.”
