BRUSSELS: CRH has been given the go-ahead by the European Commission for its €6.5bn acquisition of assets from rivals Lafarge and Holcim.
The Irish building materials giant is buying a number of global assets belonging to the French and Swiss firms as they finalise terms of their own merger.
Lafarge and Holcim are disposing of some of their businesses to clear regulatory hurdles for their merger.
The European Commission said that acquisition by CRH of the assets being sold would raise no competition concerns, “in particular because the merged entity (CRH and its newly-acquired businesses) will continue to face sufficiently strong competition after the merger and customers will have alternative suppliers in all markets concerned”.
In making its decision, the EC analysed border markets for so-called grey cement in Poland and Slovakia, border markets in France and Belgium, and also the sector in the UK. The watchdog also examined the competitive landscape for ready-mix concrete, cementitious materials, aggregates and asphalt in several regions of the European Economic Area.
The planned merger between Holcim and Lafarge nearly collapsed last month as the pair fell out over terms of the deal.
