South Africa’s PPC says CRH won’t move ahead with bid

CRH is out of the running to buy South African cement-producer PPC, the Pretoria-based company said yesterday.

The African group said CRH had withdrawn its interest in buying the group. PPC had previously announced that CRH had expressed an interest in acquiring the company, a move that allowed CRH conduct initial due diligence.

Yesterday, however, PCP said it had received confirmation on December 4 that CRH would not be pursuing the deal.

According to Davy analysts, CRH’s strategic priority remains its end-markets in Europe and North America so a deal for PPC was always a low probability.

CRH is currently on a buying spree. In October the company agreed a $3.5bn (€3bn) deal for US-based Ash Grove Cement, after buying German lime and aggregates producer Fels for €600m in August.

So far this year, CRH has paid €1.34bn for 27 acquisitions or investment transactions, including deferred and contingent consideration in respect of prior year acquisitions. It has also generated €165m in proceeds from the sale of assets.

Of the acquisitions so far this year, €690m was spent in the Americas and €650m in Europe. CRH expects profits to hit a record €3.2bn this year as it benefits from underlying growth in the Americas and solid momentum in Europe. Shares were up 0.65pc yesterday at €29.49 each.