Bloomberg: Texas Industries Mulls Sale, Working With Citigroup

(RTTNews) - Construction materials maker Texas Industries Inc.'s (TXI) owners are exploring a sale of the company and are working with Citigroup Inc. (C) to find a buyer, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. Shares of Texas Industries gained more than 9 percent in extended trades.

According to the Bloomberg report, Texas Industries' largest shareholders, Southeastern Asset Management Inc. and NNS Holding, have been seeking to sell their stakes in the company for some time. Combined, the two investors reportedly own more than 51 percent of the company, which has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion.

Texas Instruments could attract interest from buyers such as Switzerland-based cement giant Holcim Ltd. (HCMLY.PK) and U.S.-based Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC), Bloomberg reported.

Texas Instruments has the capacity to make 6 million tons of cement per year and expects to grow it to almost 8 million tons over the next several years.

In early October, Texas Industries reported a turnaround to profit in the first quarter on strong revenue growth. The company noted that the results reflected continuing improvement in construction activity in all of its markets.

Dallas-based Texas Industries' net income for the first quarter was $0.43 million or $0.01 per share, compared to net loss of $2.66 million or $0.08 per share in the year-ago period. Net sales for the quarter grew 34 percent to $233.08 million from $174.52 million in the prior-year quarter.

The company's total cement sales for the first quarter grew 20 percent from the prior-year period to $104.23 million, amid higher shipments and prices in the company's Texas as well as California markets.

TXI closed Thursday's regular trading session at $58.54, up $1.78 or 3.14 percent on a volume of 225,148 shares. In after-hours, the stock further gained $5.46 or 9.33 percent to $64.00.