Share boost for CRH following $3.5bn US deal

Shares in CRH rose 3% after the building-materials giant announced it was to buy a leading US cement manufacturer for $3.5bn (€2.93bn).

The Irish-headquartered company would not be drawn on whether further acquisitions were planned in the US, after the deal for Ash Grove Cement, a Kansas-based firm, which reported profit-before-tax of $215m, and gross assets of $2.5bn, at the end of 2016.

Ash Grove operates eight cement plants across eight US states, combined with what CRH described as “extensive, readymixed concrete, aggregates, and associated logistics assets across the US Midwest”.