International buildings group CRH has announced that it is planning to buy assets from Mexican cement company Cemex.

The deal, which has been valued at between $3.5 and $4.5 billion, could be one of the biggest ever in Irish corporate history.

Assets currently under negotiation include those in Florida and Arizona, in the United States. Cemex took over Australian rival Rinker for $14.25bn earlier this year, and as a result the US Department of Justice has required Cemex to sell the Florida and Arizona operations.

-- Advertisement --

Cemex, which has concrete pipe businesses in the US, with all the materials and products operations in Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, New Mexico, and El Paso and Texas. The aggregates division operates in Kentucky, the cements plants in Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and its gypsum wallboard distribution business in Florida.

Cemex also has assets under negotiation in Spain, Austria and Hungary.

A statement released by CRH today said: "Depending on the scale of businesses included in any potential deal, and the outcome of due diligence, a transaction size in the range of $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion is possible."

Last week CRH announced four acquisitions, worth €258m, by its American Materials Division.

(JM)