Boral is offering $1.55 per share for cement and lime producer Adelaide Brighton, with the offer subject to approval by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and a 90 per cent acceptance condition. The bid is at a 36 per cent premium to Adelaide Brighton's closing price on Monday of $1.14. Shares in Adelaide Brighton rocketed up to the bid price after the announcement of Boral's offer. Adelaide Brighton shares were 40 cents higher at $1.54 on Tuesday on a volume of 8.84 million. Boral shares were 10 cents lower at $5.00. Boral, which has arranged extra debt facilities to fund the proposed purchase, has a 19.9 per cent stake in Adelaide Brighton after on Tuesday acquiring 107.8 million Adelaide Brighton shares from Adelaide Brighton's major shareholder, RMC Group plc. UK-listed RMC Group has a 55 per cent stake in Adelaide Brighton. Boral said the proposed acquisition would expand its geographic market across Australia and enhance its ability to compete effectively in Australian cement markets with Asian suppliers. Boral managing director Rod Pearse said acquiring Adelaide Brighton was consistent with Boral's "perform and grow" strategy around its core building and construction materials assets in Australia and offshore. "It would allow us to consolidate our Queensland position and would provide us with a presence in the West Australian, South Australian and Northern Territory cement markets, where we are currently unrepresented," Pearse said. Pearse said Boral already had a strong position in the New South Wales and Victorian lime markets, and the acquisition of Adelaide Brighton would boost the national scope of Boral's lime business, especially in Western Australia. Boral, which supplies building and construction materials throughout Australia, had sales revenue of $3.8 billion for the year ended 30 June 2003. Boral has cement and lime operations in NSW and Victoria. Adelaide Brighton, which produces cement in South Australia and Western Australia and lime in Western Australia, had sales of about $500 million for the year ended December 2002. In August, Adelaide Brighton managing director Mark Chellew said the company expected to meet analyst forecasts, made in July, of a net profit after tax of $55-$56 million for the full 2003 year. Adelaide Brighton owns 50 per cent of Independent Cement and Lime, which buys cement from Adelaide Brighton and distributes cement in Victoria and NSW. Boral and Adelaide Brighton also each hold half stakes of Sunstate Cement, a Queensland clinker grinder and cement distributor. Chellew on Tuesday advised Adelaide Brighton shareholders to take no action in relation to the Boral bid. He said directors had not yet received the formal offer documentation and would make recommendations once that offer was considered. Brokers Intersuisse said in a note to clients on Tuesday that, while there may be ACCC hurdles, Boral looked well placed to complete the takeover and its 19.9 per cent stake and "strong synergies" put it ahead of any potential competitors. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Tuesday placed Boral on CreditWatch, following the bid for Adelaide Brighton. "The CreditWatch placement reflects the risks Boral faces in gaining a controlling stake in Adelaide Brighton, and the possibility of a competitive auction process," said S&P credit analyst Lucie Kistler. S&P said should the acquisition succeed, it would strengthen Boral's position in the Australian cement and lime markets. Moody's Investors Service said it has placed the Baa1 senior unsecured rating of Boral on review for possible downgrade after news of the bid. Moody's said its rating action was because of Boral's statement that the bid will be entirely debt funded and is expected to add another more than A$1 billion to its current debt of A$830 million.