Razorback Concrete sold

Razorback Concrete sold

Local mainstay purchased by national materials company

news@theeveningtimes.com

A long-time West Memphis business and fixture in the community will soon have new owners.

Razorback Concrete, one of the largest suppliers of ready-mix concrete in central and northeast Arkansas, has been sold to Summit Materials Inc. Summit is a Denver-based publicly traded company formed in 2008 and provides aggregates, cement, ready-mix, asphalt, and construction services and has operations in 24 states and British Columbia, Canada.

Summit Chief Executive Officer Tom Hill said in a news release that the acquisition of Razorback gives them a new, long-established, high-caliber asset closer to its existing cement distribution terminal in Memphis, and access to a new markets in Arkansas and along the Mississippi River.

“We are pleased to welcome … accomplished leaders Kent and Keith Ingram and their team at Razorback, to the Summit family of companies,” Hill said.

“We believe the Arkansas market is poised for higher construction activity levels over the longer term, driven by positive employment and population trends and increased public infrastructure

spending.”

Razorback Concrete was started in 1965 by W.K. Ingram with a single readymix plant and six brand new Mack mixing trucks.

Today the company is operated by brothers Keith and Kent Ingram and is one of the largest suppliers of ready-mix concrete in Arkansas.

Razorback has 18 plants and more than 100 trucks serving the region.

In 1985, the company opened a new division, RazorRock Materials, a sand and gravel mining operation that has four locations and supplies coarse and fine materials for concrete and asphalt.

West Memphis Mayor Bill Johnson, a long-time friend of the Ingrams, said he is sad to see the company change owners, but has been assured that both Keith and Kent and the new owners will remain active in the community.

“It’s a little sad to see an industry

that has been locally

owned change hands,” Johnson said. “But things change. They have been here over 50 years and have certainly been an influential and visible fixture in West Memphis and the surrounding areas. We will miss them greatly because you can always count on them for any project that ever came up. They were involved in it and contributors to it. But I am encouraged. Keith assured me it will be a seamless transition and that we won’t notice a difference at all. It will carry on like it always has.”

Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to be finalized by the end of February.

Evening Times Staff Report