Acquisition spend by materials giant could top last year’s figure of €600m

CRH’s acquisition and investment spend for 2013 could eclipse last year’s total of €600m; with nearly €500m worth of deals already agreed and more investments likely in the coming months.

At the group’s annual general meeting in Dun Laoghaire yesterday management said that €385m has been spent on 15 transactions since the start of the year. In its last update — at the time of the publication of its annual results, in February — CRH said that €200m, or so, had been spent in the first two months of 2013.

That means that nearly another €200m was spent during March and April. Furthermore, last week’s announcement of the €96m takeover of Ukrainian company Mykolaiv Cement — which still requires regulatory approval before being completed — will bring CRH’s first half spend to nearly €500m. In total, last year, the building materials group spent €600m on acquisitions and investments, following a spend of €630m in 2011. Proceeds from disposals, this year, have amounted to about €180m.