The new company plans to build three new lime kilns in Dunkirk, northern France, close to the ArcelorMittal steelworks, which will be the primary customer.
Lime is an essential purifying additive used in steel production as well as other industrial applications.
To transform the quicklime production process, the new company plans to reuse heat recovered from the ArcelorMittal plant, and use biofuels instead of natural gas in the production process to allow the company to offer net-zero lime.
SigmaRoc chief executive Max Vermorken said: " Through our subsidiary Nordkalk, a leader in lime in Northern Europe, we bring decades of experience in the production of this essential material which we will leverage to drive the success of this collaboration. We are confident this new venture will generate the targeted return on invested capital for SigmaRoc shareholders and estimate to make an equity contribution of c.€20m to the joint venture.
“For SigmaRoc, this represents another important milestone in establishing ourselves as a leading European specialist quarried materials group in addition to helping us further on the road to net zero by 2040. The joint venture is reflective of this ambition and represents one of a number of important initiatives, both organic and inorganic, that we are pursuing."
SigmaRoc has grown steadily since its creation as an AIM-listed acquisition vehicle in 2016, set up by former Holcim executives.
Its first acquisition was Ronez, a Channel Islands quarrying and concrete business bought from LafargeHolcim in December 2016. Topcrete, Allen Concrete, Poundfield, CCP (formerly Cheshire Concrete Products), Bath Stone Group and GD Harries & Sons followed on.
In January this year it bought Johnston Quarry Group and in May it added RightCast, a producer of precast concrete stairs and terracing.
SigmaRoc’s interim results for the six months of 2022 (to 30th June) show turnover growing nearly threefold to £247.1m (2021 H1: £84.8m). Profit before tax was £18.6m, up from £7.1m for the same period last year.
Executive chairman David Barrett said: "I am extremely pleased with the performance of the group considering the challenges faced in the last six months. Furthermore, Johnston Quarry Group and RightCast are excellent additions to the group and fit the SigmaRoc model well. The group remains well positioned for growth and evolution in the coming months and years, as clearly demonstrated by the very exciting development with ArcelorMittal."
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