Wake Stone Corporation, one of the largest U.S. independent quarry operators, agreed to be acquired by Birmingham, Alabama-based Vulcan Materials Company, the largest producer of construction aggregates. Terms weren’t disclosed.
John Bratton Jr. founded Wake Stone in 1970 in Knightdale in eastern Wake County. The company is still owned and led by family members, including CEO Sam Bratton, who is the son of John Bratton Jr. It will operate as a Vulcan subsidiary pending the deal’s closing later this year, with Bratton continuing to manage day-to-day operations.
“The decision to sell our family business was a difficult one,” Bratton said in a release. “We’ve been approached about selling our business many times before but the timing and fit was never right, until now.”
The company has 226 employees and four quarries in North Carolina (Knightdale, Moncure, Nash County, Triangle) and one in South Carolina (North Myrtle Beach). It is ranked as the nation’s 24th largest crushed stone producer by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Vulcan had $7.8 billion in revenue last year and has a market capitalization of about $33 billion. Its largest rival is Raleigh-based Martin Marietta Materials, which had revenue of $6.8 billion in 2023, and has a market cap of about $32 billion.
Wake Stone has made news in recent years because of its plans to add another quarry next to its existing site adjacent to land owned by Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The existing quarry has an estimated five years of stone, while the new site would likely last for another 25 or 30 years, Bratton has said.
Environmental groups have urged state officials to block Wake Stone’s plans for the expansion because of its proximity to the popular William B. Umstead State Park. But the company has emerged victorious in regulatory battles involving the project.
