US aggregates giants Martin Marietta Materials Inc. and Vulcan Materials Co. have been locked in a war of words since the former filed a hostile takeover bid on 12 December 2011.
Since the $4.8bn offer, Vulcan has maintained that it “substantially undervalues” its assets, and has disputed Martin Marietta’s assessment of the synergies in a potential merger.
In a conference call on 10 January 2012, Martin Marietta CEO Ward Nye hit back, accusing Vulcan of “scare tactics” and financial mismanagement.
“Vulcan has made unrealistic assumptions for the level and timing of the economic recovery,” said Nye. “Vulcan’s cash gross profit analysis fails to address the key issue -...