CRH in €96 million Ukraine acquisition

Expansive materials producer CRH has grown its presence in Ukraine with the acquisition of Mykolaiv Cement from Lafarge for €96 million.

Mykolaiv Cement owns a wet process cement plant located in the Lviv region of Western Ukraine. CRH said the deal makes it the market leader in Ukraine, and would allow it to further leverage the benefits of its Podilsky factory – its flagship plant in Central and Eastern Europe.

CRH entered the Ukrainian market in 1999 with the acquisition of Podilsky Cement, and in 2011 commissioned a new dry process kiln at that facility with an annual clinker capacity of 2.3 million tonnes. Also in 2011, CRH acquired a majority stake in Odessa Cement – a wet process facility with a cement grinding capacity of 0.5 million tonnes located in Odessa city.

The news comes after CRH announced that it spent €375 million on acquisitions during the second half of 2012. This brought its full-year expansion activity to almost €630 million.