CRH eyes ‘hundreds’ of deals as spending splurge continues

Building materials giant CRH expects further large assets to go on sale as international rivals move to improve their balance sheets, adding it is looking at “hundreds” of potential acquisitions.

While unlikely to come anywhere near its record 2015 acquisition and investment spend of around €8b — dominated by its €6.5bn purchase of a number of businesses offloaded as part of the mega merger of European peers Lafarge and Holcim — the Dublin-headquartered group is still likely to keep spending this year.

Last year’s outlay included around €160m on 20 bolt-on acquisitions and these are set to continue, even though this year will see management focus on further lowering debt levels.