Following a week of on-off talks, Tarmac has accepted the South African company's 585p per share offer.

Anglo American plans to merge Tarmac with its own Tilcon business to create the UK's largest supplier of building aggregates.

Anglo American did not give any details of expected cost-savings at the merged company, but analysts have estimated they could be around £25m a year.

Tarmac share rose to 568p in early trade, from 554p at close on Thursday. Anglo American was up 55p to £33.85.

European beachhead

Anglo moved its primary listing from Johannesburg to London in May and said it wanted to expand beyond its traditional South African base.

It said it intended to use Tarmac to consolidate its position in the UK and as a bridgehead into mainland Europe.

Anglo expects to make "significant investment" to expand into Western and Eastern Europe.

Tarmac earlier this year split off its construction arm into a separate company called Carillion.

Last month Tarmac bought up key assets of Marley Paving for £26m to set up a separate division called Tarmac TopPave.

And this month it bought London-based asphalt business Situsec for £9.45m.