Building materials group CRH plans spending spree even if merger fails

CRH is continuing to work under the assumption that the merger of its European peers Holcim and Lafarge will succeed, but has maintained that a collapse of the proposed deal will not hamper its own ambitious growth plans.

Shareholders at the Irish cement and building materials giant yesterday voted unanimously in favour of its plan to spend €6.5bn on acquiring a number of international assets that the Swiss and French companies are required to sell in order to achieve regulatory approval for a merger.

At the EGM in Dublin, 99.93% of shareholders backed the idea, described as potentially “game changing” for CRH.