Acquisition

CRH PLC
03 December 2007

N      E      W      S                R      E      L      E      A      S     E



                                                                30 November 2007


                     CRH ACQUIRES $250 MILLION OF ASSETS
                 FROM CEMEX AND TERMINATES WIDER NEGOTIATIONS


On 17 September, CRH plc, the international building materials group, announced
that it was in negotiations with CEMEX S.A.B de C.V. (Cemex) regarding the
possible acquisition of certain Cemex assets in the United States and Europe.
Arising from these negotiations CRH has acquired the Cemex readymixed concrete
and concrete block operations in Florida and the aggregates and readymixed
concrete operations in Arizona required to be sold as a condition of the US
Department of Justice approval for Cemex's acquisition of the Rinker Group.  The
total cash consideration is approximately US$250 million (euro 170 million).

Negotiations with Cemex regarding a wider transaction involving additional
assets have been terminated.

The Florida operations being acquired comprise 26 concrete plants and 6 block
plants. The readymix business operates in five market areas - Tampa, Southwest
Florida, Orlando, Jacksonville and the Florida Panhandle while the block
business operates primarily in the Tampa/St. Petersburg and Fort Myers/Naples
areas. In Arizona, CRH will acquire 2 quarries and 5 concrete locations
principally in the Tucson area.

In the eleven months to end-November, CRH has completed acquisition initiatives
totalling euro 2 billion.

Total spend in the first half of the year amounted to almost euro 1 billion
comprising the acquisition of Swiss builders merchant Getaz Romang completed in
May; the purchase of a 50% stake in Denizli Cement in Turkey and the buyout of
the remaining 50% of Paver Systems in the US announced in April; the acquisition
of Harbin Sanling Cement Company in China announced in February plus 31 other
initiatives announced in the Development Strategy Update of 2 July.

To date in the second half a further euro 1 billion has been invested in
acquisitions. This includes the August buyout of the remaining 55% of Cementbouw
BV in the Netherlands; completion of four separate transactions by the Americas
Materials Division as announced in September; the purchase of the Cemex assets
described above in addition to a strong flow of traditional CRH development
opportunities.  Details of these latter transactions will be included in the
Development Strategy Update scheduled for release on 3 January 2008 in
conjunction with CRH's Full Year 2007 Trading Update Statement.





__________________________________________________________________________

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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