CRH seals a $1.3bn deal to buy up US glazing firm CR Laurence
SHARES in Irish building materials firm CRH jumped by 5.17 per cent yesterday, after the company revealed it has reached a deal to buy US glazing group CR Laurence for $1.3bn (£844m).
CRH said forecast sales for the acquisition were $570m for 2015, and that it expects to generate annual synergies of $40m by 2017 by combining CR Laurence with its US-focused BuildingEnvelope business.
Albert Manifold, CRH’s chief executive, said the US firm “is a business with strong growth characteristics and an excellent operational fit with our Building Envelope business”.
CRH also reported a 13 per cent increase in sales during the six months to 30 June to €9.37bn (£6.84bn).
Pre-tax profit edged up to €63m from €61m.
Manifold said the company was “on track to deliver another year of growth in 2015”, highlighting good trading in the Americas.
“Against a mixed macro-economic backdrop, underlying trading in Europe is broadly in line,” he added.
The company expects trading conditions to remain the same for the rest of the year.