Martin Marietta to buy Lhoist North America in $13.5 billion deal

Martin Marietta Materials said it will buy Lhoist North America in a $13.5 billion cash-and-stock deal that expands its grip on limestone, lime and other industrial minerals used across roadbuilding, steelmaking and heavy construction. The company said it will finance the transaction with about $7 billion in cash and about $6.5 billion in stock, and it expects the deal to close in the second half of 2026 after regulatory approvals.

The transaction lands in a market where basic materials can shape the cost of highways, public works and housing. Lhoist North America supplies hi-calcium lime, dolomitic lime and related industrial mineral products used in infrastructure and nonresidential construction, giving Martin Marietta a stronger foothold in a segment tied to repairs, renovations, data-center construction and broader infrastructure spending. Martin Marietta said the combined business should generate about $85 million in annual run-rate cost synergies, signaling expected savings from distribution, logistics and operations.

Lhoist North America brings scale as well as reserves. Martin Marietta said the business operates 20 quarries and production facilities and 45 distribution terminals, generated $1.8 billion in gross sales and $786 million in adjusted EBITDA in the 12 months ended December 31, 2025, and sits on more than 2 billion tons of high-quality limestone reserves. Martin Marietta said that reserve base represents more than 200 years of useful life, an asset position that could give the company more leverage in markets where supply is difficult to replace quickly.

Ward Nye said the deal advances Martin Marietta’s SOAR 2030 objective to expand its Specialties segment in lime and other industrial minerals. The logic is not just scale for scale’s sake. In regions such as Sun Belt metropolitan corridors, where population growth and infrastructure expansion continue to pull on aggregates and industrial minerals, control of a long-life limestone base can influence pricing, availability and margins at a time when construction demand remains elevated.

The acquisition also fits a larger footprint already built by Martin Marietta, which is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its 2025 annual report said it operated about 390 quarries, mines and distribution yards across 28 states, Canada and The Bahamas. Lhoist Group, meanwhile, was founded in 1889, remains family-owned and operates in more than 20 countries with 130-plus sites and more than 6,400 employees, underscoring the scale of the industrial platform changing hands.