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), writes Pádraig Hoare.

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.