CRH has ended its talks to buy up to $4.5 billion (€3.07 billion) worth of assets from Cemex, its Mexican concrete rival, after the two companies failed to agree a price.

The Dublin-based buildings material group has agreed to pay $250 million (€170 million) for the Cemex businesses in Florida and Arizona that the company is being forced to sell to satisfy US anti-trust conditions following its acquisition of Australian concrete group Rinker.

But negotiations with Cemex regarding a much larger deal, which began in mid-September and had been expected to be CRH's biggest acquisition ever, have terminated, it was announced late on Friday evening.

Cemex said in a statement that talks had ended "due to disagreement over the value of the assets".

CRH has acquired 26 ready-mix plants and six block plants in Florida, as well as two quarried and five ready-mix concrete operations in Arizona.