France's Imerys has agreed to purchase Illinois-based minerals and materials group AMCOL International Corp for about $1.6 billion including debt to strengthen its U.S. business, it said in a statement on Wednesday.The acquisition, priced at $41 per AMCOL share and unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to generate "significant commercial and operational synergies", Imerys said.The deal is also expected to boost earnings per share from the first full year of integration in 2015, Imerys said.With revenue of more than $1 billion last year, AMCOL is a global leader in bentonite, a mineral with uses ranging from metal-casting in the auto industry to construction and drilling. Its energy services business also serves the expanding oil and gas market.
AMCOL International Corporation (AMCOL) is focused on the development and application of minerals and technology products and services to various industrial and consumer markets. Shares of ACO traded higher by 2.0% or $0.72/share to $36.72. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $27.59 and as high as $37.05. On average, 119895 shares of ACO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 104337.
Source
