Acquisition

CRH PLC
20 May 2002





May 20, 2002



CRH TO ACQUIRE ASSETS OF US AGGREGATES, INC. IN UTAH AND ALABAMA





On March 12, 2002, CRH plc, the international building materials group,
announced that its Materials Division in the Americas, Oldcastle Materials
Group, had reached agreement with US Aggregates, Inc. (USAI) to acquire its
operations in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee and Alabama for a cash
consideration of US$140 million (euro 153.8 million).



As an initial step in the sale process, USAI filed a voluntary petition for
reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code on March 11, 2002.
Accordingly, the proposed sale to Oldcastle was subject to approval by the US
Bankruptcy Court in Nevada. This has now been received and the transaction is
expected to be completed on May 29, 2002.



Since March, Oldcastle Materials has reached agreement to dispose of certain
USAI operations which are non-core to CRH. These transactions are also scheduled
to close on May 29, 2002. The USAI assets being retained by Oldcastle comprise
USAI's fully integrated construction materials business in Utah and a major
quarry in Birmingham, Alabama. The net cash cost to Oldcastle Materials for
these retained businesses is US$74 million (euro 81.3 million).



On a combined basis in 2001, the retained operations sold 6.1 million tons of
aggregates, 1.1 million tons of asphalt and 0.2 million cubic yards of
readymixed concrete with total sales revenue of US$76 million (euro 83.5
million).



Commenting on this transaction, Tom Hill, CEO of Oldcastle Materials Group,
said:



'The USAI deal achieves a primary objective of the Materials Division to further
expand its operations in the Mountain region. In particular, the deal augments
production capacity to serve the ever-growing Salt Lake City area and extends
the Division's activities into the attractive Cedar City / St. George region in
southern Utah. We expect to enhance historical profitability through the
elimination of duplicate costs and the realisation of greater efficiencies in
purchasing, production and transport. The transaction also provides a major
quarry in the city of Birmingham, Alabama, Oldcastle Materials' first location
in the southeast.'



Contact :      [phone]
Liam O'Mahony, Chief Executive
Harry Sheridan, Finance Director
Myles Lee, General Manager - Finance
Tom Hill, CEO Oldcastle Materials Group



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

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



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