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The building materials group CRH is nearing a deal to acquire its competitor Arcosa, in an acquisition that would be the Irish company’s largest-ever takeover.
CRH and Arcosa are in advanced discussions and an agreement could be reached on a deal as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. The people cautioned that talks were continuing and could yet shift.
Dallas-based Arcosa operates across segments including construction products and engineered structures. Its stock has risen more than 12 per cent over the past month to give it a nearly $7bn market capitalisation. With debt, the company would cost over $8bn.
CRH and Arcosa did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
CRH is a serial dealmaker. The Dublin-based company moved its listing to New York, where it has a market value of $74bn, to benefit from higher valuations and big building demand in the US.
CRH’s acquisition of Arcosa could rank as its biggest. The building-materials company in 2015 paid €6.5bn to buy cement assets that Holcim and Lafarge had to sell ahead of their merger that created the world’s biggest cement company.
An acquisition of Arcosa, which has about $2.9bn in sales and over 6,000 employees, would give CRH construction products including aggregates and crushed concrete, which could benefit from US infrastructure spending. The Irish company would also add engineered structures for power utilities, telecom towers and lighting poles.
The companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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