Heidelberg Materials North America, a division of the German company Heidelberg Materials, has entered a purchase agreement to acquire Giant Cement Holding, Inc., and its subsidiaries, Giant Cement Company, Dragon Products Company and Giant Resource Recovery.

Dragon Cement, in Thomaston, is part of that $600 million package.

Heidelberg Materials North America is a supplier of cement, aggregates, ready mixed concrete, and asphalt with more than 450 locations and approximately 9,000 employees in the U.S.

The parent publicly-traded company is in Heidelberg, Germany. Worldwide, Heidelberg Materials does business in 50 countries in 2,700 locations, with approximately 51,000 employees. There are additionally almost 420 production sites belonging to joint ventures.

Heidelberg Materials also tradies in cement and coal by sea. 

 With the pending purchase, Heidelberg Materials North America will own:

• Giant Cement Company assets in the Southeastern U.S., consisting of an integrated cement plant in Harleyville, South Carolina, a network of four cement distribution terminals in Georgia and South Carolina as well as a joint-venture deep-water import terminal in Savannah, Georgia.
• Dragon Products assets in New England, including a cement and slag distribution terminal in Newington, New Hampshire, and a deep-water import terminal in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Giant Resource Recovery, a hazardous and non-hazardous alternative fuel recycling business with four facilities in the Eastern U.S.

“The acquisition of the GCHI assets will further strengthen our cementitious footprint in the growing Southeastern U.S. and New England markets,” said Chris Ward, President and CEO of Heidelberg Materials North America, in a Nov. 28 news release. “We are excited to expand our supply network on the East Coast to better serve our broad customer base and we expect strong synergies with the Giant Resource Recovery fuel recycling business. We welcome the GCHI employees and customers to Heidelberg Materials and look forward to the opportunities and growth potential ahead.”

“Our latest additions are yet another great strategic fit creating value in the near term through significant synergies with our existing assets on the East Coast. This move follows a series of key acquisitions this year that have already contributed to our consistently strong financial performance in North America,” said Dr Dominik von Achten, Chairman of the Managing Board of Heidelberg Materials, in another news release. “At the same time, we are excited about taking further steps in building a sustainable future and positioning Heidelberg Materials as the front runner on the path to net zero and a circular economy in the key North American market.”

What the acquistion means for Dragon Products in Thomaston remains to be seen. The Thomaston plant has been idled, as announced in 2023, and cement products for Maine markets has been shipped in for distribution. Work in the quarries has likewise been idled.

As of August, there were 23 local employees, including sales staff, in Thomaston.

Fourteen years ago, however, Dragon Products was producing almost 300,000 tons of cement on an annual basis. Back then, it employed approximately 88 people and actively mined its 130-acre open pit quarry.

In 2019, Dragon had submitted applications to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to modify licenses to allow combustion of asphalt shingles, post-consumer carpet and padding, and plastics, as alternative fuels.  

In 2019, a fire at the plant shut it down for six weeks.

In 2023, Dragon announced it would gradually idle production operations beginning in December at its Thomaston plant. At that point, Giant Cement said persistent escalation of operating and logistical costs have exerted a negative impact on theThomaston plant's viability.

Dragon has been part of the Midcoast landscape for much longer, since the early 1900s, when manufacturers first started mining limestone quarries and making Portland cement at the Thomaston facility. Over the last century, the plant grew its footprint to 1,100 acres.

The plant itself sits on approximately 250 acres, with another undeveloped 700 acres.

As for future plans for the plant, Jeff Sieg, corporate communications director for Heidelberg Materials North America, said in a In a Dec. 2 email: "We are excited about the future opportunities that the GCHI businesses will provide for us. But it is too early to speculate on any future use of these locations. At this stage in the process, operations will continue as usual as we focus on working to close the transaction. Until that time, the Thomaston plant and other GCHI assets remain under the control of their current owners."