Overland Park, Kan.-based Ash Grove Cement Co. announced that shareholders controlling just over 63 percent of the company’s voting stock have approved an Agreement and Plan of Merger with CRH plc. The $3.5 billion transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018.
In announcing the agreement in late September, Charlie Sunderland, Ash Grove chairman of the board, said, “CRH, as our largest customer, has enjoyed a close and highly productive relationship with Ash Grove for many decades. The board of directors believes that CRH will be able to take Ash Grove to its next phase of development after 135 years in operation and over a century under the stewardship of the Sunderland family.”
Albert Manifold, chief executive of CRH, added, “Ash Grove is an excellent addition to CRH’s portfolio of businesses across North America as we seek to deploy our capital into high-quality businesses that enhance our global asset base and provide opportunities to create shareholder value. We welcome the Ash Grove team to CRH and look forward to further developing our longstanding relationship as part of one company.”
The CRH takeover had a small shakeup in early October when Ash Grove received an “unsolicited, preliminary, non-binding competing acquisition proposal” from Summit Materials, potentially valuing the business at $3.7 billion to $3.8 billion. The offer compelled Ash Grove to extend the period for obtaining shareholder approval for the CRH transaction to Oct. 20. Ash Grove noted in the shareholder vote announcement that Summit had not submitted a definitive proposal.
