Folks driving by one of the Nazareth-area’s landmark cement plants soon will see new signs going up.
Essroc, which was acquired in a $4.2 billion deal last June, will have signs saying it’s part of Lehigh Cement Co.
A company spokesman said the mega-deal approved by the Federal Trade Commission last June will have no significant impact on the 175 people who work at the Nazareth plant.
The transaction combined Lehigh Hanson Inc. and Essroc Cement Corp., which were then owned by parent companies HeidelbergCement AG and Italcementi S.p.A., respectively. Now, HeidelbergCement AG is the owner of both Lehigh Hanson Inc. and Essroc.
HeidelbergCement in October became the sole shareholder of Italcementi and now owns 100 percent of the share capital. Italcementi shares were delisted from the Italian Stock Exchange on the same day, said said Jeff Sieg, director of corporate communications for Lehigh Hanson.
As part of the deal, HeidelbergCement also was required by the FTC to divest certain assets in the United States to address competition concerns arising from the Italcementi acquisition, Sieg said.
The $660 million sale in November divested an Essroc cement plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia, as well as eight related distribution terminals in the mid-Atlantic region.
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While the Nazareth plant was spared and not divested in the sale, Seig said Essroc now operates as the Lehigh Cement Co. and is part of Lehigh Hanson’s North Region.
“For now the legal entity is still ‘Essroc’ and our operating permits still show ‘Essroc,’ but we have changed the signs to say ‘Lehigh Cement Company’ since that is the direction we are going with all of the Essroc cement operations,” Sieg said.
There are no immediate plans to change how Essroc, which has properties in Nazareth, Upper Nazareth and Lower Nazareth, does business, Sieg said.
“We have not planned any significant changes at the moment and we remain focused on supplying our customers in the market with quality products and service,” Sieg said. “Of course, we are still working to fully integrate the Essroc plants into our existing business systems.”
Sieg said no layoffs of current workers are planned.
The steelworkers union contract remains the same with no changes to benefits or salaries. The nonunion Essroc employees are in the process of being transitioned to Lehigh Hanson benefits plans, he said.
“We are very excited to welcome the Essroc plants to Lehigh Hanson,” Sieg said about the acquisition. “We believe the acquisition of these plants strengthens our product and service offerings and creates new and exciting growth opportunities for our company and employees.”
Essroc Cement is a leading North American cement producer with more than 6.5 million metric tons of annual capacity. It operates production facilities located throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.
Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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