Building materials group in an acquisition frenzy
Irish-based firm CRH is a major player worldwide in aggregate construction materials, especially cement and asphalt, as well as aggregates (sand and gravel), along with brick, pre-cast concrete, fencing, and other construction materials. The company has been on a buying spree, and with the strength of the euro versus the dollar, the US is tempting territory.
CRH's American Materials Group is the #1 asphalt supplier, the #4 supplier of aggregates, and a top ten cement supplier in the US. It recently made four US acquisitions with $350 million in an attempt to boost its market leading position. The companies acquired are:
- Florida-based Conrad Yelvington Distributors the largest rail distributor of aggregates in the Southeast, with 27 rail-based distribution centers.
- Eugene Sand & Gravel, based in Oregon,
- Cessford Construction, based in Iowa, a supplier of construction materials
- McMinn's Asphalt and Prospect Aggregate, a Pennsylvania company with extensive quarries and asphalt production.
As a Financial Times article ("CRH buys four groups to build on US presence", 9/14/07) sees it:: "For aggregates and other road construction materials re-mains strong - and has helped offset the impact of slower housebuilding activity."
These buys solidify CRH's growing strength in the US market. In 2006, it spent $1.4bn to buy Ashland Paving and Construction (APAC), a major US asphalt supplier in CRH's biggest deal ever. It also bought full control of Florida's Paver Systems a maker of highway construction materials, and Texas-based MMI Products, a maker of construction products like fencing and wire reinforcement products. Through the past decade the company has invested in gravel pits, asphalt mines, and cement companies throughout the US. In 2006, it bought Erie Blacktop Systems and Scioto Materials, two Ohio asphalt makers. And many more.
In other worldwide deals, CRH has been on a buying spree.
In 2007, for example
- It completed the purchase of Dutch-based Cementbouw BV, a leading supplier of cement and aggregates
- It bought 50% of Denizli Cement, a Turkish company.
- It bought Harbin Sanling, a Chinese cement company.
- It bought majority control in Getaz Romang, a Swiss construction materials company.
So far, tcompany has made over 30 axcquistions in Europe, the US and Asia this year.
In 2006:
- It bought Halfen-Deha Group, a German maker of pre-made concrete construction materials, and the European a leader in that field.
- It bought Nuth NV, a Dutch brick maker.
- It bought Leebo, a manufacturer of façade and roofing systems in The Netherlands
- It bought Hofman, a Belgian gravel company.
- It bought the UK's Manchester Brick & Precast,
- It acquires Laubeuf, a French maker of glass roofing material.
- It bought Arfman, a Dutch maker of fencing materials.
The company made over 68 acquisitions took place in 2006. CRH has acquired small and midsize companies at a steadily expanding rate over the past ten years.
As we have seen with UK company Wolesley and French comapny Saint-Gobain and with the growing concentration of the cement industry worldwide, building materails are an area of increasing and accelerating consolidation.
9:43:03 PM 
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