Wagners, an Australian services company, is hoping to grow with an initial public offering next year although no firm decision about this action has been taken as yet.
The family owned company has just sold its concrete division to Boral Ltd for $175 million. and is looking to consolidate and expand its position in the oil and gas industry.
Denis Wagner the managing director of the Toowoomba, Queensland based company said that with this asset sale to Boral, it gives the company a good capital base, going forward, to capitalize on the opportunities in the mining services and oil and gas opportunities in the Surat Basin in Queensland.
Boral chief executive Mark Selway said that the resource projects in the Darling Downs, particularly in oil and gas, have been a bit out of their reach because they had not had the footprint on the ground to support those projects. By bringing this into their portfolio, it offers a footprint right where the action is, so they were pleased about that.
Boral will buy Wagner's network of large fixed concrete plants and five of its quarries, its 60 per cent stake in a fly-ash joint venture and its concrete pumping and bulk transport operations. The deal is still subject to approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.