CRH confirms total disposal proceeds of EUR1bn for 2015
CRH plc confirmed today total disposal proceeds of approximately EUR1bn in 2015. This comprises the previously announced sale of its clay and concrete products operations in the UK and the Group’s clay business in the US (EUR0.43bn) plus several additional divestments across Europe and the Americas for total proceeds of around EUR0.53bn.
During 2015 the group also completed 20 bolt-on acquisition and investment transactions. These deals, together with the acquisition of assets from Lafarge and Holcim, the CR Laurence acquisition and net deferred consideration payments, bring development spend for 2015 to approximately EUR8bn.
Commenting on these developments, Albert Manifold, CRH CEO, said: “Portfolio management, and in particular the reallocation of capital from lower growth areas into core businesses for growth, is a cornerstone of our value creation model.
"We are pleased with our progress in 2015, which brought cumulative proceeds from our multi-year divestment programme to almost EUR1.4bn, while our targeted bolt-on investments strengthened our existing businesses and complemented the major acquisition activity which saw total acquisition spend of approximately EUR8bn in 2015.”
Europe: 15 divestments and five acquisitions
Divestments – EUR260m
CRH's Heavyside business completed 13 divestments in 2015, the largest of which was the disposal of CRH’s 25 per cent equity stake in its Israeli operation. Other disposals comprised a number of non-core readymixed concrete and concrete products businesses.
One small disposal was completed by the Lightside Division, while the Distribution Division disposed of its 45 per cent stake in Doras, a builders merchant in France.
Acquisitions – EUR21m
The European Lightside business completed one acquisition in Australia and a small further investment in The Netherlands, accelerating the introduction of the Cubis access chamber range to Australia’s growing market and adding annualised sales of some EUR24m, CRH said.
The Heavyside operations set up a new joint venture with its existing readymixed concrete operations in St Petersburg, Russia, in addition to acquiring a concrete paviour production plant in Poland. CRH's Distribution business acquired the remaining 50 per cent of an aluminium wholesale business from its joint venture partner in The Netherlands.
Americas: 14 divestments and 15 acquisitions
Divestments – EUR267m
The America's Materials Division disposed of four non-core operations and completed an asset exchange. CRH's Products Division sold six operations across the US, including the disposal of Merchant Metals, a national distributor of fencing systems and perimeter control products. The Products Division also divested of all of its businesses in Argentina and Chile.
Acquisitions – EUR140m
Nine bolt-on acquisitions and three investments were completed by CRH's Americas Materials Division in 2015 adding annualised sales of around US$200m and over 253Mt of aggregate reserves. The Americas Products Division completed three transactions in 2015 adding annualised sales of around US$55m.
