Bird & Bird advises Liberum on the €81.3 million (approx. £70.2 million) acquisition by AIM-listed SigmaRoc of Carrières du Hainaut, the Belgian aggregates business

The placing, carried out by Liberum as sole book runner, raised £32.8 million which will be used in part to fund the initial consideration of the acquisition as well as for future investment opportunities and general working capital. The team at Bird & Bird advised Liberum as broker to the company in connection with the acquisition and placing, which was structured as part vendor placing and part cash placing.

This is the second substantial transaction the Energy & Utilities sector group at Bird & Bird have advised on in the aggregates space in the last 12 months, following its role as lawyers to LKAB Minerals on the acquisition of Francis Flower in the UK. The work was led by Corporate partner Adam Carling together with associate Freddie Spearman (Corporate).

Neil Patel, Managing Director, Investment Banking at Liberum says: "The acquisition of CDH is a significant step for SigmaRoc as it continues to grow and generate shareholder value. We were delighted to help them raise money to finance the transaction, which saw great support from existing and new shareholders. Bird & Bird provided us with seamless advice, in a complex transaction, and we look forward to working with the team in future."

Adam Carling, Corporate partner at Bird & Bird comments: "We are delighted to have advised Liberum on the placing and acquisition by AIM-listed SigmaRoc plc of Carrières du Hainaut. This is another substantial transaction the Energy & Utilities team have advised on in the past year and is a great example of the work we are undertaking in the aggregates space. We look forward to working with Liberum on future projects."

The principal sellers were Belgian private equity houses Compagnie Benelux Participations (Cobepa) SA and Verlinvest SA, represented by Linklaters.