Irish building materials group CRH said today it had spent euro 294.0 million on acquisitions and expansion projects in the first half of the year.
Ireland's largest industrial firm said it made 20 acquisitions on top of the euro 160 million purchase of Mount Hope Rock Products, a New Jersey quarry operation, announced in April.
Some of the deals were for operations in Poland, France, Germany and the United States.
"The initiatives announced today, including 20 bolt-on acquisitions, are very much in keeping with our well-proven and long-term development strategy," CRH chief executive Mr Liam O'Mahony said in a statement.
The company also spent euro 80.7 million on what it called significant expansion of CRH's concrete products and insulation interests in France and Germany.
The company said it bought a 20 per cent stake in Dijon-based Prefaest, a leading manufacturer of pre-cast concrete drainage systems and telecommunications vaults, expanding CRH's presence in the pre-cast sector in mainland Europe.
In addition, the company said that in May its insulation group acquired 100 per cent of Gefinex, the leading manufacturer of polyethylene insulation in Germany. CRH also acquired Kevington Building Products, a specialist clay brick-cutting company in the south of England in May.
The firm also said it had spent euro 113.8 million in the United States on acquisitions by its materials division in Utah, Washington, Michigan and Vermont.