Titan America Is Gearing Up For Continued Growth Following IPO

The construction industry appears to be poised for more growth in 2025 and beyond, buoyed by investments in the aging infrastructure, the reshoring of businesses in America and deregulation expected from the Trump administration, industry reports note. That's good news for Titan America SA TTAM, the U.S. subsidiary of Brussels-based Titan Cement International, which just went public on the New York Stock Exchange and now sports a market capitalization of nearly $3 billion.

The company is aiming to take the U.S. construction industry by storm with what it sees as its innovative and green approach to producing cement, ready-mix concrete, blocks and aggregates. Claiming to pioneer the future of low-carbon, high-performing cement, Titan America says its approach produces cement that has 10% less carbon emissions than its competitors. That should be welcome news given America is facing a housing shortage that is only expected to get worse with the formation of more households that need a place to live. Over the next decade, housing starts (the construction of new units) on average are projected to be 1.6 million per year. 

Deregulation To Spur Growth 

On the commercial side, thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was passed in November 2021 and commits over $1 trillion to fix the nation's ailing infrastructure, the construction industry is expected to see more growth. That's particularly true of green building materials which may play a role in the broader goal to lower overall emissions. If that's not enough, President Trump is expected to bring in a new era of deregulation to the construction industry that could speed up the process of approving and completing projects. 

“The demographics, also the household formation, supports strong build-up in the construction industry, especially in the residential, but also the infrastructure. The deregulation that this administration is going to bring is going to shorten the time between planning a project and executing a project. We feel that this is going to accelerate the growth," says Titan America CEO and president Bill Zarkalis. 

"Tariffs? What Tariffs?" 

That's a sentiment shared by Titan America's investors who participated in the company's recent IPO. On its first day of trading, shares opened slightly higher than its IPO price of $16 per share and have continued to trade higher. The stock has remained slightly above its IPO price and the company is confident it will perform as the growth drivers play out and any uncertainty about tariffs impacting its business dissipates. According to Titan America, much of its production is on the east coast in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. The imports it does rely on come from the European Union and other countries that shouldn't be impacted by tariffs, it reports.  

It doesn't hurt that Titan America isn't a small player in the U.S. construction market, with $1.6 billion in annual sales. It operates in regions that are reportedly expected to see future growth, including Florida, the Mid-Atlantic and Metro New York and New Jersey.

"We have a strong position and a proven business model that allows us to grow faster," says Zarkalis. He points to the company's pipeline of ultra-high performance and low carbon products that differentiates itself from competitors. "It allows us to take advantage of the explosive growth in regions growing faster than the average of the US."

IPO Boosts Titan America's Coffers 

Net proceeds of the IPO in which Titan America issued 24 million shares, were $136.8 million, which will be used for capital expenditures, investments in technology and to pursue strategic acquisitions, the company says. Titan Cement International received net proceeds of about $228 million from the IPO. Citigroup C and Goldman Sachs & Co. GJS acted as joint lead book-running managers for the IPO. Bank of America Securities, BNP Paribas BNPQF, Jefferies Financial JEF, HSBC HSBC, Societe Generale SCGLF and Stifel Financial SF acted as bookrunners for the IPO.

The IPO of Titan America comes as some European companies are looking at listings on the New York Stock Exchange for their U.S. businesses, drawn by higher valuations and a broader pool of investors to tap. Given Titan America's contribution to the economy, Zarkalis says the IPO made a lot of sense. "We have grown to the point that we became 60% of Titan Cement International and we are a pure-play," says Zarkalis. "It made sense ahead of the explosive growth we expect to have Titan America carved out as a standalone public company, with its own strong balance sheet."

Featured photo courtesy of NYSE.

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