Irish buildings materials firm CRH said its US unit Oldcastle Materials has entered into an exclusivity agreement with Ashland that may lead to the acquisition of Ashland Paving And Construction.
Completion of any transaction that might emerge from this process would be subject to US regulatory review and approval by the boards of CRH and Ashland.
Ashland Paving is a US aggregates, asphalt and construction company with extensive operations in 14 southern and mid-continent states, producing 32 million tons of aggregates and 32 million tons of asphalt annually.
In the 12 months ended March 2006, it had sales of $2.8 billion, with EBITDA of approximately $200 million.