Acquisitions seem to be a daily occurrence in the industry at the moment with CSR Limited (CSR) announcing it will be acquiring AFS Products Group Ltd (AFS) on Wednesday.

A statement from CSR says the acquisition of AFS provides a strong platform for them to enter the structural walling systems market.

“AFS provides an exciting opportunity for CSR to increase its exposure to the growth in the multi-residential construction market,” said CSR Managing Director Rob Sindel. 

“AFS delivers faster and less complex building solutions, resulting in increased speed of construction, lower labour and crane requirements and complements our existing range of non-load bearing walling systems,” Sindel said.

A $40 million initial consideration was accepted by AFS and it is reported that CSR will fund the acquisition via existing cash and debt facilities that is expected to be EPS accretive in the first year. 

AFS is Australia’s leading provider of fibre cement based permanent formwork systems and manufactures the Logicwall products at its facility in Goulburn, NSW.

The relationship between CSR and AFS isn’t a new one, with CSR’s Cemintel™ fibre cement sourced by AFS for the Logicwall since its conception.

“The combination of AFS Logicwall and Rediwall with CSR’s non-load bearing walling products including Gyprock plasterboard, Cemintel fibre cement, Bradford insulation and Hebel lightweight concrete panels will enable CSR to offer its customers a comprehensive suite of walling solutions,” Sindel said.

“CSR will be able to utilise its extensive network across the construction sector to grow the AFS business while expanding the range of products available for our customers.”

CSR have stated that senior AFS management with proven sales process and expertise in engineering and technical support needn’t worry about their job security for at least the next three years, suggesting that those who fit this criterion will remain with the company.