CRH spends €470m on acquisitions

Building materials group CRH spent €470 million on acquisitions and investments in the first six months of the year.

Earlier this year, the group took over Cementos Lemona in Spain as part of a settlement of a dispute that saw it transfer its 26 per cent stake in Iberian cement producer Uniland to Cementos Portland Valderrivas.

Together with this deal, acquisitions in the US and Europe, and net deferred consideration payments, the group’s development spend for the first half of 2013 came to about €470 million. Proceeds from disposals, including the Uniland swap, were €185 million.

Expansions
Myles Lee, CRH chief executive, said the group has continued to develop its portfolio across its six main business segments so far in 2013.

“In particular, the acquisition in March of Expocrete, a major concrete products business in the attractive western Canada market, represents a significant expansion of CRH’s Canadian operations. It brings total group annualised sales in Canada to €315 million and complements our existing North American architectural products business,” he said.

In the US, CRH completed 12 transactions at a total value of €178 million. Seven of these deals, including Cemex in Salem, Oregon, were in the materials division, "significantly strengthening" CRH's position by securing additional reserves as well as yielding synergies in purchasing, logistics and production.

Market position
The remaining deals were in the product and distribution division, most notably the aforementioned Expocrete, as well as Eldersburg Supply, a distributor of gypsum wallboard, metal studs and acoustical ceiling tiles, which CRH acquired in April with a view to improving its market position and to "unlock operational synergies".

In Europe, in addition to the Cementos Lemona deal in Spain and a related cement import business in Britain, CRH’s European segments completed seven transactions at a total cost of €58 million.

These deals include the acquisition in April of the assets of Echo, a manufacturer of pre-stressed hollow core elements operating two plants in the Liège region and serving the Belgian residential market, and the ready-mixed concrete, aggregates and block operations of Cemex in Northern Ireland, which were acquired in May.