Building materials group CRH is to pay €197.6 million ($292 million/2.1 billion yuan) for a stake in the cement unit of Jilin Yatai, tapping into China's construction boom.
Dublin-based CRH will buy 26 per cent of the cement maker with an option to pay 2 billion yuan for another 23 per cent. Jilin Yatai is based in the northeastern province of Jilin.
The CRH move follows Lafarge SA and Holcim, the world's two biggest cement makers, in buying stakes in companies in China, the world's fastest growing major economy and biggest producer and consumer cement.
Jilin Yatai is one of 12 national-scale cement makers chosen by China's government for preferential treatment as it consolidates the industry by eliminating one-third of producers nationwide through 2010.