Shares in building materials group CRH rose today after said it had received approval from a majority of Ash Grove shareholders to buy the US firm for $3.5 billion.
Last month, CRH announced the deal to buy the US cement maker to grow its North America business.
But Ash Grove then received an offer from a third party - believed to be Denver-based company Summit Materials - valued at between $3.7-3.8 billion earlier this month.
Summit was set up in 2009 by former CRH executives.
Ash Grove said that it had provided confidential information to Summit following its unsolicited offer but that Summit did not submit a definitive proposal for the company by Friday night's deadline.
That automatically trigged the approval of 63.4% of shareholders who had delivered written consents approving the transaction when the CRH deal was announced, Ash Grove said in a statement.
The deal will further strengthen CRH's grip in North America where it is the biggest maker of concrete products and second largest supplier of aggregate materials for construction.
CRH is the world's third-largest building materials supplier.
It is adding the fifth largest cement manufacturer in the US in family-owned Ash Grove which has extensive readymixed concrete, aggregates and logistics assets across the US Midwest.
"CRH has now received Ash Grove shareholder approval for the proposed acquisition at a total consideration of $3.5 billion," CRH said in a statement today.
The company said the deal is still subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018.
Commenting on today's deal, Davy Stockbrokers said it represents the best possible outcome after two uncertain weeks which prompted fears that the group could get drawn into a protracted bidding war or lose out entirely.
Davy said that the deal is a real coup for CRH and is is strategically important as it will reduce the group's dependence on third-party producers.
Shares in the company closed 1.55% higher in Dublin trade today.
