CRH 's development spend reaches almost €630m in 2012

In an update on its spending for the second half of the year, CRH said it had agreed 18 acquisition and investment initiatives of €375m. The transactions completed since the end of June bring full year 2012 development activity for the group to almost €630m.

During the six month period, CRH said its Americas division agreed 12 deals worth a total of €256m.
This included a majority stake in New Jersey's Trap Rock Industries and and also completed five other bolt-on transactions during the period, adding a total of approximately 515Mt of strategically located aggregates reserves and strengthening positions in a number of key states.

Its Europe division completed six transactions worth €119m in the second half of the year. Among the deals was the purchase of a concrete products manufacturer in Finland and a business in the Isle of Man from Cemex.  An investment in a precast concrete plant was also made in China.

''The €0.6 billion of development activity during 2012 reflects CRH's long-term, value-based approach to developing our balanced portfolio,' commented CRH's chief executive Myles Lee.