Saint Gobain Offers to Buy Rival CSR in $2.8 Billion Deal (1)

Cie. de Saint-Gobain offered to buy CSR Ltd. for A$4.3 billion ($2.8 billion), the French building-materials producer said.

The offer price of A$9 a share represents a 34% premium to CSR’s Tuesday closing price, before Bloomberg reported on Saint-Gobain’s interest earlier Wednesday.

CSR’s shares surged as much as 18% in Sydney to A$8.02, the highest since June 2008, after the Bloomberg News report and before trading was halted.

An acquisition of CSR could help St. Gobain diversify and boost growth in residential and commercial building products in Australia and New Zealand.

St. Gobain’s shares have climbed 29% in the ...