CRH in €324m spending spree

BUILDING materials group CRH yesterday announced details of its 22 acquisitions totalling €324 million in the second half of 2003. The group employs over 30 people who work full-time on identifying businesses to add to the CRH stable.

CRH has spent €214m on 11 projects in Europe since July. It also added a further six companies to its materials division in America, at a cost of €53m, as well as writing cheques totalling €57m for five businesses that are now part of its American products and distribution division.

This followed a flurry of activity earlier in the year, when the group made the biggest acquisition in its history by paying €693m for Dutch cement group Cementbouw and another €189 million on SE Johnson, a materials business in the midwestern United States. CRH spent a total of €1.6bn on acquisitions last year.