Raleigh materials giant plans to buy limestone producer for $13.5 billion
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- Martin Marietta will merge with Lhoist North America in a $13.5 billion deal.
- The merger would, pending approvals, make Martin Marietta the top U.S. producer of lime.
- Martin Marietta is the Triangle’s largest public company by market value, about $35.
The most valuable Triangle company plans to spend $13.5 billion in cash and stock to expand its footprint across the Southeast.
In what it described as a merger, Raleigh heavy building materials producer Martin Marietta said Monday it plans to buy limestone supplier Lhoist North America, whose network includes sites in Texas, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. Lhoist is a subsidiary of a private Belgian company with the same name.
Martin Marietta says the agreement, which is still subject to regulatory approval, would instantly make it the top U.S. producer of the mineral lime. The company’s share price fell more than 6% following the announcement.
“As the United States continues to invest in infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, energy development and industrial expansion, demand for high-quality lime products is expected to remain resilient for decades to come,” company president and CEO Ward Nye said in a federal regulatory filing.
Martin Marietta is the biggest public company in the Triangle by market capitalization, with investors valuing the business around $35 billion. Its Raleigh roots date back more than 85 years to a materials producer named Superior Stone which, following a series of deals, eventually became Martin Marietta.
Its main corporate campus is in northwest Raleigh, off of Parklake Avenue. Since 2022, the company has also paid more than $500,000 a year for the naming rights to the downtown performing arts center.
Its material lineup includes asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, aggregates and special products like magnesium hydroxide.
In the past decade, its workforce has grown from 7,300 employees to approximately 9,600 this year. Wall Street has also been favorable, with Martin Marietta’s stock now more than twice its 2020 value.
The company has acquired other businesses before, including $1.63 billion on Bluegrass Materials in 2018, but the Lhoist North American price tag is much higher. Martin Marietta said it will complete the deal by paying $7 billion in cash and $6.5 billion in stock.
Analysts react to Martin Marietta move
In an analyst note Monday, Truist Securities called Lhoist North America “exceptionally profitable,” but wondered whether investors will be wary of Martin Marietta shifting away from its successful aggregate materials operations.
The price tag may spark questions too. Martin Marietta is paying around 17 times what Lhoist North America generated last year in EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Even factoring in “synergies,” Truist says the cost is still 15.5 times greater than 2025 EBITDA.
David MacGregor, who covers Martin Marietta as president of Longbow Research, thought the deal will benefit the Raleigh company. In limestone and aggregates, Martin Marietta will have “two really strong earnings engines,” he told The News & Observer in a phone interview Monday. And while $13.5 billion may have surprised some, he said the business can leverage Lhoist’s distribution network for additional benefits.
Martin Marietta expects the combination to complete in the second half of the year.
This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 1:42 PM.
