CRH Buys US Concrete Business

Concrete Company CRH has bought Pavestone Group LP, a major US producer of paving stones, for an upfront cash consideration, including debt assumed, of $540m (€348m).

The deal also includes a deferred consideration to be paid by CRH if future increases in profitability are met.

Completion of the transaction is subject to the granting of the required regulatory approvals.

Pavestone is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and employs 1,300 people across the entire outfit. It operates a national network of 18 concrete paver plants at 16 locations across the United States.


It also has decorative stone bagging plants at 14 of these locations.

Last year, its adjusted earnings before tax and writedowns came in at $65 million on sales of $368 million giving the company a trading margin of 17.7%.

CRH said that the takeover would complement its existing retail business, the Architectural Products Group (APG) giving it a broader footprint in concrete landscaping products.

CRH Chief Executive Liam O'Mahony said: "The proposed acquisition of Pavestone represents an opportunity to build on our success in developing APG into the leading North American supplier of multiple landscaping products, enabling profitable growth and an improved ability to service our core professional and DIY hardscape markets."

(VB/JM)