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Court to hear Martin Marietta appeal May 25
Reuters reports that Martin Marietta Materials Inc. has won an expedited appeal of the May 4 ruling that barred it from pursuing its offer for Vulcan Materials for four months. The Delaware Supreme Court, says Reuters, has agreed to hear Martin Marietta's appeal on May 25, "reviving the company's hopes that it might pursue a proxy fight for board seats at Vulcan's annual shareholder meeting on June 1, exactly one week later." The company's stock price closed down 8 percent in yesterday's trading. The news agency says the drop came after the co-founder of Greenlight Capital, David Einhorn, said the stock was overvalued. Keep Reading
Court denies Martin Marietta’s motion for a stay
Vulcan Materials Co. says a court has denied Martin Marietta Materials' motion for a stay on an order barring it from pursuing a $5.3-billion hostile takeover of Vulcan Materials for the next four months. The Court of Chancery has issued an order implementing its earlier decision, which, until Sept. 14, enjoins Martin Marietta from pursuing its exchange offer for shares of Vulcan Materials Co., prosecuting Martin Marietta’s proxy contest at Vulcan Materials’ annual meeting of shareholders, and otherwise taking steps to acquire control of Vulcan Materials' shares or assets. Also, as required by the Court of Chancery’s order, Martin Marietta is, among other things, terminating its exchange offer and withdrawing its related registration statement, withdrawing its Hart-Scott Rodino Act filing in connection with its exchange offer, and withdrawing its nominees for election at the Vulcan Materials' 2012 annual meeting and terminating the related solicitation of proxies. As previously announced, Martin Marietta is appealing the Court of Chancery’s decision to the Delaware Supreme Court. Keep Reading
New Leadership at IMA-NA and NISA
David Brown, president and CEO of Billings, Mont.-based Wyo-Ben Inc., was elected chairman of the Industrial Minerals Association - North America (IMA-NA). At the same event, Wade Sjogren, president of Bridgeton, N.J.-based Whibco Inc., was elected chairman of the National Industrial Sand Association (NISA). Both officers began their two-year terms at the associations' spring meetings on April 26, in Washington, D.C. The boards, members and staffs of the trade groups congratulated Brown and Sjogren on their new positions, and thanked Kevin Porterfield (Specialty Minerals), immediate IMA-NA past chair, and Chuck Fowler (Fairmount Minerals), immediate NISA past chair, for their service during the preceding two years. Keep Reading
Judge rules in Vulcan Materials’ favor; Martin Marietta to appeal
Judge Leo E. Strine Jr. of the Delaware Chancery Court made a decision to block Martin Marietta Materials for a period of four months from prosecuting a proxy contest, making an exchange or tender offer, or otherwise taking steps to acquire control of Vulcan Materials' shares or assets. "We appreciate the Delaware Chancery Court's careful consideration of this matter and are pleased with the decision," Vulcan Materials said in a statement. "Our board and management team remain focused on enhancing value for all Vulcan shareholders, including through the aggressive implementation of the Profit Enhancement Plan and Planned Asset Sales that we announced in February. As demonstrated by our strong performance over the last two quarters, Vulcan is well positioned for growth, with superior aggregates operations and operating leverage, and we look forward to continuing to build shareholder value." Martin Marietta Materials said it will appeal the ruling. The company issued the following statement: “Martin Marietta continues to believe in the undeniable strategic merits of a business combination with Vulcan. We… Keep Reading
Change for the better
Pit & Quarry has been around for a long time—nearly 100 years. Just before I first started on the magazine in early 1988, the parent company was Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich (HBJ). Beginning soon after, as is often the case in the world of business-to-business publishing, ownership changed hands on a regular basis. We went from HBJ, to Edgell Communications, to Advanstar Communications, to Questex Media Group, and now, as of yesterday, to North Coast Media. This latest change is an exciting one, because we are now part of a new, smaller, more-focused business that will enable us to make changes more quickly and further invest in our offerings. Over time, you'll see the changes in the form of a redesigned magazine, redesigned website and more digital offerings. Stay tuned. Keep Reading
Lafarge turns over mining rights across 1,300 acres
Lafarge North America has come to terms with government agencies and jurisdictions to turn over land leases in an effort to preserve the land in and around the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Lafarge held leases to extract sand and gravel on three properties totaling about 1,300 acres around the wildlife refuge. The company worked in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state of Colorado, Jefferson and Boulder counties and the city of Boulder as it developed government proposals, which included the sale of Lafarge’s leased mining rights in the area. Lafarge’s first lease has been terminated and the mining permit for the 640 acres was transferred to Boulder County. The second lease of 605 acres was terminated and is undergoing reclamation in cooperation with DOE. The mining rights on the third parcel are expected to be turned over to DOE later this year. Keep Reading
Vulcan Materials’ letter urges shareholders to reject takeover offer
Vulcan Materials Co. has filed definitive proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its 2012 annual meeting of shareholders, to be held on June 1. The company's board of directors has also sent a letter urging shareholders "to protect the value of their investment in Vulcan Materials" by rejecting Martin Marietta Materials' offer to acquire Vulcan Materials at what it calls "a grossly inadequate price" and by voting for Vulcan Materials' nominees on its proxy card. The full text of the letter to Vulcan Materials' shareholders is here. Keep Reading
Vulcan Materials announces earnings improvement
Vulcan Materials Co., the nation's largest producer of construction aggregates, today announced what it calls significantly improved results for the first quarter ended March 31. Don James, chairman and CEO, said, "Our aggregates business delivered another quarter of strong improvement and the non-aggregates businesses continued to make progress. These results reflect the continued recovery of our markets and the benefits of the company's powerful earnings leverage. James added, "Demand for our products was solid during the quarter due primarily to public infrastructure projects and some recovery in private sector construction work. Results in the quarter were aided by favorable weather conditions." First quarter aggregates segment gross profit increased $23 million from the prior year reflecting growth in shipments across almost all geographic markets. Aggregates shipments increased 10 percent from the prior year and, coupled with lower unit cost of sales, led to a sharp increase in aggregates gross profit margin. Vulcan's aggregates businesses in California and Virginia continued to achieve strong volume gains from the prior year. The company's aggregates… Keep Reading
John Deere announces WorkSight system
John Deere WorkSight is an integrated suite of technology solutions for business optimization. It consists of five technologies, including JDLink machine monitoring system, Fleet Care proactive machine health program, Service Advisor Remote dealer diagnostics, grade control and payload weighing. JDLink This proprietary system provides machine location, utilization measures and maintenance tracking through an easy-to-use website. Two service levels are currently available. JDLink Ultimate delivers more comprehensive data, including diagnostic trouble codes; equipment utilization; fuel consumption data; alerts to a cell phone, pager or email address; machine location; curfews; and geofencing. JDLink Select is a more basic service level for all makes of equipment that provides machine-engine hour, maintenance tracking, location and geofencing capabilities. Fleet Care This program processes JDLink data, fluid analysis and machine inspection results with a sophisticated rules engine to proactively identify problems, determine their criticality, and email corrective actions to take before they cause unexpected downtime. Service Advisor Remote Service Advisor Remote enables a John Deere dealer to connect remotely to a Deere machine to read diagnostic… Keep Reading
