⁍ Boral Ltd said it was selling out of its plasterboard business and considering exiting the United States.

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⁍ The shake-up effectively ends a seven-year offshore acquisition spree that led to a hefty writedown in 2020.

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⁍ It focuses the company on its domestic operations which generate about half its profit.

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– Australia’s Boral has made a name for itself around the world with building materials, but it’s now looking to cut its losses in the US. The company announced Tuesday that it is selling its 50% stake in a plasterboard joint venture to Germany-based Gebr Knauf KG for $1.015 billion, reports Reuters. The move is part of a review of Boral’s global portfolio that also includes a possible exit from the US. “With the industry fully aware that we have been undertaking a global portfolio review, we have been approached directly and indirectly with third-party interest in our US assets,” said Boral CEO Zlatko Todorcevski at the company’s annual meeting, per the Sydney Morning Herald. “We intend to explore third-party interest in our North American building products businesses to assess if there are enhanced value creation opportunities.” Boral has been on a buying spree of late, acquiring plasterboard makers in Asia and the Middle East as well as Australia in an attempt to boost its presence in the global construction market, but the strategy has backfired, with earnings downgrades and the discovery of overstated profit at the newly bought company, per Reuters. Boral said it would consider selling assets in the US, where a 2016 acquisition of rival Headwaters led to earnings downgrades, an impairment charge, and the discovery of overstated profit at the newly bought company.