Adelaide firm in $25M take-over of Humes (N.Z.)

Press, 1 June 1989, Page 47

Adelaide firm in $25M take-over of Humes (N.Z.)

A listed Australian company has taken over Humes Industries (N.Z.), including Hurricane Wire Products, which has its headquarters in Christchurch.

Adelaide Brighton Cement announced yesterday that it had paid $NZ25.2 million for the Humes shares, which was about the value of the net tangible assets. The New Zealand company was part of Smorgon Consolidated Industries, when it took over Humes, Australia, in 1988. The parent company took complete control of Humes Industries (N.Z.) in 1986. In a statement yesterday,

Mr Ken Worsley, of Humes Industries (N.Z.), said that Adelaide Brighton Cement had advised the New Zealand company that existing production and business would continue with little immediate change. Staff and employees were all being retained in their positions, he said. The Australian company has two cement plants in South Australia, and cement interests in Perth, Brisbane, and Darwin. It also has cement interests in Hawaii and concrete activities in Miami, Florida. The deputy managing

director of Adelaide Brighton Cement, Mr Geoff Fry, said that the immediate aim for Humes Industries (N.Z.) was to become more prominent in the market. In the long-term the aim was expansion in both trading and markets at home and abroad, he said. In 1988, Adelaide Brighton Cement’s sales were up 33.6 per cent to sAust239.BM, and the group net profit rose 19.7% to $21.7M. The roofing division of Humes Industries has been excluded from the deal. It has been sold to another Australian company, Monier Redland.