US/EUROPE: Global mining group Anglo American has been approached about a multi-billion pound sale of its Tarmac building materials division.
Tarmac is a major employer in the UK. It owns quarries and cement manufacturing facilities in the Midlands and other parts of the country.
Anglo American has yet to respond formally to the Marwyn proposal. Speculators suggested that the mining corporation does not want to offload the business now.
The Marwyn approach is one of several that Anglo American has received since it first hinted it might sell Tarmac a few years ago.
It held off striking any deals last year, but said in March that 2010 was likely to present "numerous further acquisition opportunities" and it was reviewing some potential takeovers.
In February, Anglo American sold some of Tarmac's European operations for a combined total of about $400m.
Peter Tom, stepped down as chairman Aggregate Industries in 2008 after selling the concrete manufacturer to Holcim, the Swiss industrial giant, for £1.8bn in 2005. The 69-year-old businessman then took on the executive chairmanship of Marwyn Materials, a shell that makes acquisitions in the building materials industry.
