With Ash Grove in the books, CRH holds commanding cement stake

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CRH Americas closed a $3.5 billion acquisition of Ash Grove Cement Co. late last month days after announcing a settlement to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges that the deal violated antitrust law. Terms called for the Oldcastle Inc. parent company to sell a Three Forks, Mont., cement plant and quarry to GCC Americas; three Omaha, Neb., area sand & gravel sites to Martin Marietta Materials; plus, three quarries and two asphalt plants near Kansas City to Summit Materials. The settlement also contains two three-year provisions: It grants GCC an option to use two Three Forks-fed CRH terminals in Alberta; and, holds that CRH, at GCC’s option, will purchase cement from the mill for distribution in Canada.

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Ash Grove shareholders clear path for CRH acquisition

Sources: Ash Grove Cement Co., Overland Park, Kan.; CRH Plc, Dublin; CP staff

Shareholders controlling just over 63 percent of Ash Grove Cement voting stock have approved a $3.5 billion merger agreement with Oldcastle Inc. parent company CRH. The deal is projected for a late-2017 or early-2018 closing and will position Atlanta-based Oldcastle Materials as the number five U.S. portland cement producer, with 8 million-plus tons’ annual capacity, while strengthening its role among the top five aggregates and ready mixed concrete operators.

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