CRH shares rise on US deal approval

Shares in CRH jumped by more than 2% on the back of the building materials company receiving approval for its $3.5bn (€2.98bn) takeover of US cement manufacturer Ash Grove.

The Dublin-headquartered group had agreed a deal for Ash Grove last month before a rival bid from Denver-based company Summit Materials surfaced. That pushed out a deadline for Ash Grove’s shareholders to vote on the CRH offer, but that approval was granted late on Friday.

While the deal remains subject to regulatory approval (it is expected to close by early 2018 at the latest) the news of investor approval boosted CRH’s share price by up to 2.3% yesterday, despite a slight paring back of gains in later trading.