CRH up 5% after order to sell stake

IRELAND’S CRH was told by a tribunal to sell its stake in a joint venture with Portuguese cement maker Semapa but the attractive exit terms in a difficult sector sent its shares almost 5% higher.

CRH, an Irish building supplies group that is the leading asphalt producer in the United States, bought 49% of Semapa’s Secil unit in 2004 for a total consideration of €429 million including debt, but Semapa wanted to exercise its option to buy it back five years later.

A French tribunal ended the two-and-a-half year dispute yesterday when it ruled that Semapa’s exercise of the call was valid and that the parties were obliged to complete the sale at an equity price of €574m within the next six months.