Acquisition

CRH PLC
21 August 2006

                      N  E  W  S      R  E  L  E  A  S  E


                                                                  21 August 2006



          CRH TO ACQUIRE ASHLAND PAVING AND CONSTRUCTION, INC. (APAC)
                      IN GROUP'S LARGEST EVER TRANSACTION




Agreement to acquire APAC

CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces that its US
subsidiary, Oldcastle Materials, Inc., has reached agreement to purchase Ashland
Paving And Construction, Inc. (APAC) for a total consideration, including zero
net debt at acquisition, of US$ 1,300 million (euro 1,008 million); the final
price to be adjusted for seasonal working capital and some other accounts at
completion.  Goodwill arising on the transaction is estimated at approximately
US$450 million. This agreement follows extensive due diligence under the terms
of an exclusivity agreement with APAC's parent company, Ashland Inc., announced
on 19 June 2006.  Completion of the purchase of APAC, which has received
antitrust clearance, is anticipated before the end of August. CRH will finance
the acquisition using debt.



APAC's business

APAC, headquartered in Atlanta , GA , is a leading US aggregates, asphalt and
heavy highway construction company with approximately 9,700 employees and
extensive operations in 14 mid-western and southern states. In the 12 months
ending June 2006 sales amounted to US$ 2.9 billion with profit before interest,
tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of approximately US$ 220 million,
before charging depreciation and amortisation of US$ 106 million. Gross assets
as at 30 June 2006 were US$1,665 million.



In the year ended June 2006 APAC produced 32.5 million tons of aggregates, 31
million tons of asphalt and 1 million cubic yards of readymixed concrete.
Approximately one-third of APAC's aggregates production and two-thirds of
asphalt production are consumed internally by APAC's construction operations.



APAC has vertically integrated aggregates, asphalt and highway construction
operations in Kansas , Missouri , Oklahoma , Arkansas and Mississippi , all with
leading regional market positions. APAC is also a leading integrated player in
the Memphis area of western Tennessee , in eastern Tennessee/western North
Carolina and in southern Florida . Total permitted reserves amount to over 2
billion tons. In addition APAC has significant asphalt and highway construction
operations in West Virginia , Virginia , Alabama , Georgia , the Carolinas,
northern Florida and Texas .



Management

APAC's President Kirk Randolph who has over 20 years experience with APAC will
continue to have responsibility for APAC as part of CRH's Americas Materials
division which is led by Mark Towe working closely with Tom Hill head of our
overall Americas business.  Key APAC operational management will remain with the
business and join the Americas Materials division. In addition, a number of
senior managers from Americas Materials will be assigned to work with the
existing APAC team to assist with its integration.



CRH Americas Materials division

CRH's existing Americas Materials division is the number one US asphalt producer
with 2005 volumes of  41 million tons; the fourth largest US aggregates company
with 2005 volumes of 162 million tons and a top 10 readymixed concrete player
with volumes of 8.5 million cubic yards. The division operates in 32 US states,
primarily in the Northeast, Midwest and West. In the year ending December 2005
the Americas Materials Division reported sales of US$ 3.9 billion and EBITDA of
US$ 613 million, before charging depreciation and amortisation of US$ 205
million. APAC will be integrated with the existing Americas Materials divisional
structure which is currently divided into four major regional groupings; New
England , New York / New Jersey , Central and West.



Acquisition benefits

The acquisition of APAC represents a major expansion for CRH into new materials
markets in mid-western and southern US states and significantly increases CRH's
position as a top tier aggregates and leading asphalt producer in the US . APAC
provides increased exposure to US infrastructure spending and a development
platform for future growth in new regions. The acquisition offers significant
scope for margin improvement through administrative, operational and purchasing
synergies - estimated at US$ 20 million per annum in the near term rising to US$
40 million within three years - and is expected to contribute positively to CRH
earnings.



Commenting on the agreement to purchase APAC, Liam O'Mahony, CRH Chief
Executive, said: 'I am delighted that agreement has been reached for the
purchase of APAC which represents a major milestone in the development of our
Americas  Materials business and the largest ever transaction to be completed by
CRH. We aim to build on this significant new platform through enhancing the
materials focus of APAC's business and through the application of the Americas
Materials Division's vertically integrated approach to aggregates, asphalt and
highway construction.'



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This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements as defined under
US legislation. By their nature, such statements involve uncertainty; as a
consequence, actual results and developments may differ from those expressed in
or implied by such statements depending on a variety of factors including the
specific factors identified in this announcement and other factors discussed in
our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC.



All references to tons in this announcement are to short tons in line with US
practice.

                                     -----



CRH will host an analysts' conference call at 2.30 p.m. BST today to discuss
this announcement. The dial-in number is [phone]. A recording of the
conference call will be available from 4.00 p.m. BST by dialling [phone]
1970. The security code for the replay will be 2741758#.



A presentation to accompany this call will be available from 1.00 p.m. on CRH's
website at www.crh.com.







Contact CRH at Dublin 404 1000 ([phone])

Liam O'Mahony, Chief Executive

Myles Lee, Finance Director

Eimear O'Flynn, Head of Investor Relations

Maeve Carton, Group Controller




       CRH plc, Belgard Castle , Clondalkin, Dublin 22, Ireland TELEPHONE
                       +353.1.4041000 FAX [phone]

          E-MAIL [e-mail] WEBSITE www.crh.com Registered Office, 
                    42 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2, Ireland


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