CRH Buys Ashland’s Highway and Materials Unit
Dublin-based materials powerhouse CRH plc says that its U.S. subsidiary, Oldcastle Materials Inc., is buying APAC, the highway construction and materials unit of Ashland Inc., for $1.3 billion. The companies expect to close the deal in a few weeks.
CRH describes the acquisition as its biggest transaction ever and one that would add significantly to the company’s already extensive U.S. materials business. Liam O’Mahoney, CRH’s chief executive, noted in a press conference that Ashland’s properties in the Midwest and South would fit nicely with CRH’s U.S. materials business unit and its operations in the Northeast. “There’s very little overlap with our more northern-based business,” says O’Mahoney.