Construction BUSINESS

CRH plc, the international building materials group, has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Ash Grove Cement Company, a leading US cement manufacturer headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, for a total consideration of US$3.5 billion. The proposed transaction is subject to Ash Grove shareholder and regulatory approvals and will be financed through existing financial resources. The transaction is expected to close around year end 2017.

Ash Grove operates eight cement plants across eight US states, combined with extensive readymixed concrete, aggregates and associated logistics assets across the US midwest.

For the year ended 31 December 2016, Ash Grove reported profit before tax of US$215 million and gross assets of US$2.5 billion.

Albert Manifold, Chief Executive of CRH, commented: “Ash Grove is an excellent addition to CRH’s portfolio of businesses across North America as we seek to deploy our capital into high quality businesses that enhance our global asset base and provide opportunities to create shareholder value. We welcome the Ash Grove team to CRH and look forward to further developing our longstanding relationship as part of one company.”

Charlie Sunderland, Chairman of the Board of Ash Grove, added: “CRH, as our largest customer, has enjoyed a close and highly productive relationship with Ash Grove for many decades. The Board of Directors believes that CRH will be able to bring Ash Grove on the next phase of its development after 135 years in operation and over a century under the stewardship of the Sunderland family”.