International buildings materials group CRH said today that its development spend for the first half of the year amounted to about €470m.
In the Americas, the company spent €178m on 12 transactions with deals in the materials, products and distribution divisions.
The purchases include Modern Precast Concrete in Pennsylvania, Cemex in Carolina, Dutchess Quarry and Supply in New York state, reserves near Ann Arbor in Michigan and limestone reserves in Thomasville, Pennsylvania.
CRH said it concluded five transactions, worth €58m, in Europe in the first six months of the year.
The companies involved included Cemex in Northern Ireland, the Dudman group in the UK, Echo in Belgium and Van Buren in the Netherlands.
The company said that proceeds from divestments and disposals so far this year came to about €185m. This included the Uniland swap.
''The group has continued in 2013 to develop its portfolio across its six main business segments,'' comments CRH's chief executive Myles Lee.
He said that the purchase of Expocrete in March was a major expansion of the company's operations in Canada. ''It brings total group annualised sales in Canada to 315m and complements our existing North American architectural products business,'' he added.
