Ash Grove Cement approve takeover by CRH

CRH receive Ash Grove Cement shareholder approval for US$3.5 billion acquisition

CRH plc, the Dublin-based international building materials group, have received approval from Ash Grove Cement Company shareholders for their proposed takeover of the company.

On 21 September 2017, it was announced that CRH had reached an agreement to acquire Ash Grove, a leading US cement manufacturer headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, for a total consideration of US$3.5 billion.

But on 5 October 2017, having received an unsolicited, preliminary, non-binding competing acquisition proposal from Summit Materials LLC, Ash Grove extended the period for obtaining shareholder approval for the transaction to Friday 20 October 2017.

However, Summit Materials failed to submit a definitive proposal and it was announced on 20 October that CRH had received sufficient support from Ash Grove shareholders for their proposed acquisition to go ahead.

The previously announced special meeting of Ash Grove shareholders that was scheduled for 1 November 2017 has now been cancelled.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018.