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 a sure bet for CRH model of “extracting the benefits of scale”
The ink had dried on September’s column, “Oldcastle-style capital reallocation,” by the time CRH Plc announced the boldest move in almost four decades centered on Oldcastle Inc., its North American business: A $3.5 billion acquisition of Kansas-based Ash Grove Cement Co., scheduled to close by year end.
Read MoreAsh 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.
Read MoreAsh Grove names COO Vance to succeed CEO Sunderland
Ash Grove Cement Co. President and Chief Operating Officer J. Randall Vance has been promoted to chief executive officer. He succeeds Charles Sunderland, who is part of the part of the fourth generation of Sunderland family members to lead the majority family-owned business and will remain chairman of the board.
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