Boral’s independent directors have caved in to Seven Group’s hardball takeover bid for control of Australia’s largest concrete and cement maker, but not before wringing a handful of concessions from the billionaire Stokes family controlled company.

The about-face in the combative takeover follows Seven beefing up its already dominant Boral holding to 78.8 per cent and the independent directors recognising Seven was serious in its threat to stack Boral’s board with new directors, delist the company from the ASX and defer dividend payments.

Ryan Stokes, Seven’s chief executive, along with father Kerry owns about 57 per cent of Seven, a diversified Perth-based conglomerate. The billionaires also control industrial equipment firm Westrac, Coates Hire, a large chunk of ASX-listed oil and natural gas producer Beach Energy and a dominant interest in Seven West Media.

Boral, run by Vik Bansal, is midway through a major turnaround and is bullish about the prospects of its quarries, cement and concrete as multiple major infrastructure works get under way around the country and demand for housing remains sky-high.

The company is the country’s biggest building materials maker, supplying Australia’s largest building and infrastructure firms with highway and home building materials.

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Boral’s bid response committee said in a supplementary target statement to investors on Friday that Seven’s large interest in the company would result in its nominees having “effective control of decision-making on the Boral board and would reduce the influence of independent voices”.

“The bid response committee has concerns about the impact of these changes on Boral as a standalone listed company for minority Boral shareholders in the near term,” it said.

The committee said it was able to “negotiate a package of measures with Seven to enhance the value received by Boral shareholders who accept the Seven offer,” and hence had changed it position, recommending shareholders now accept Seven’s offer or sell their shares on-market.