Belden Brick purchases Virginia brick operation

The Belden Brick Co. announced today that it has approved a purchase agreement for Lawrenceville Brick Inc. of Lawrenceville, Va., through their subsidiary Redland Brick of Williamsport, Md. Lawrenceville Brick was incorporated in 1947 as Brick and Tile Corp. The original plant opened that same year with a capacity of 10 million bricks. The company continued to expand as demand for brick increased, and by 2002 had facilities to produce 115 million bricks per year along with running three retail operations. "We are very pleased with this arrangement," Belden Brick Chairman William H. Belden Jr. said. "We've known the people at Lawrenceville Brick for quite some time and admire the products they produce. Their line fits well into the Redland Brick portfolio and their market area is an excellent enhancement to our sales territory." Belden also said that the acquisition was mutually agreed upon by those involved. "The management at Lawrenceville decided that the time was right to sell, and we saw it as an excellent opportunity to expand our product portfolio," he said. Redland Brick is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Belden Holding and Acquisition Co. It operates four brick manufacturing plants in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Belden Brick is the sixth largest brick manufacturer in the United States. At a time when most brick companies are owned by international conglomerates, Belden is the largest family owned and managed brick company in the nation.