The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has given a green light to Irish building materials giant CRH to buy the Ukrainian cement-making unit of Italy's Buzzi, Dyckerhoff GmbH, after a year of deliberation.
The €100 million purchase gives CRH, which already owns three plants in Ukraine under the Cemark brand, two more of the country's eight operating cement plants, with the ninth currently behind Russian lines.
Under the terms approved by the committee, CRH must sell a 25-28% stake in the unit to an independent investor within nine months. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which has discussed the possibility of joining the acquisition with CRH, is expected to acquire the stake.
The planned takeover comes ahead of an expected surge in demand for cement when the war eventually ends and the reconstruction of Ukraine begins in earnest. USAID has estimated Ukraine will need to produce 15-16 million metric tons of cement annually over a three-year reconstruction period, compared with the pre-war production of about 13 million metric tons.
