Flanked by Ireland and CRH Americas Atlanta headquarters colleagues, CRH Plc Chief Executive Albert Manifold opened New York Stock Exchange trading late last month. Ringing the venue’s Opening Bell, he capped a shift of the producer’s primary listing from London Stock Exchange, where it will retain a standard listing. A CRH statement reiterated an earlier rationale for the Wall Street move: “We believe a U.S. primary listing will bring increased commercial, operational and acquisition opportunities for our business, further accelerating our successful integrated solutions strategy and delivering even higher levels of profitability, returns and cash for our shareholders.”
“This marks an important milestone in CRH’s development which will enable us to fully participate in the significant growth opportunities that lie ahead for our business,” said Manifold, acknowledging how CRH Americas Materials Solutions and Products businesses have grown to represent about 75 percent of CRH Plc EBITDA, with U.S. operations poised to be key drivers of Group growth.
The CRH gathering on the New York Stock Exchange platform was just three months shy of another Open Bell ringing at the hands of a construction materials executive. Knife River Corp. CEO Brian Gray signaled the start of trading on June 1, the official date of the North Dakota-based concrete and aggregate producer’s split from MDU Resources Group.