Sources: CRH Plc, Dublin; CP staff
Oldcastle Inc. parent CRH will consolidate its Americas Products franchises—Oldcastle Architectural, BuildingEnvelope, Precast—plus Europe Lightside and Distribution businesses in a new global Building Products division, effective January 2019. Americas Products President Keith Haas will lead the business, operating alongside Americas and Europe Materials divisions. Europe Lightside and Distribution President David Dillon will shift to Global Strategy & Business Development, maintaining his title and reporting to CRH CEO Albert Manifold.
Haas joined Oldcastle in 1995 as assistant vice president of Business Development, proceeding to Distribution business (divested January 2018) then Oldcastle Architectural management posts, becoming chief executive officer in 2008. He held that title with Oldcastle Building Products for five years prior to his appointment as president of CRH Americas Products, which has 17,000-plus employees and 350 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
The two reporting units Haas inherits with Building Products will more than double his present scope of operations. In 2017, the Americas Products business logged sales of $5 billion, while Europe Distribution (building material sales and distribution, trades and consumers) and Lightside (concrete hardscapes, architectural products, construction accessories, shutters & awnings, network access, perimeter protection) businesses reported respective volumes of $1.68 billion and $4.83 billion. Concurrent with the Building Products formation, CRH is conducting a strategic review of Europe Distribution, which in 2017 accounted for 16 percent of group sales and 10 percent of operating profit. Based on last year’s financials, the reorganized CRH encompass:
- Building Products, $11.5 billion
- Americas Materials, $9.3 billion
- Europe Materials, $ 8 billion
The figures are pending any Europe Distribution move and CRH’s soon to close $3.5 billion deal for Ash Grove Cement, which stands to boost Americas Materials sales by 20-plus percent.
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