‘We’ve been waiting a decade for a transaction like this’

Building materials group CRH raised €1.6bn through an equity placement yesterday to part-fund the biggest acquisition in the company’s history.

On Sunday, it confirmed that it will pay €6.5bn for assets that have come on the market through the merger of Holcim and Lafarge.

CRH chief executive Albert Manifold said the “company had been waiting a decade for a transaction like this”.