CRH Development Initiatives

CRH PLC
11 July 2000


CRH ANNOUNCES EURO 339M NEW DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

HIGHLIGHTS

CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces a range of
development initiatives totalling euro 339 million undertaken during the first
half of 2000.  These initiatives are in addition to the four larger
acquisitions, costing a total of euro 604 million, which have been announced
separately by the Group this year: The Shelly Company (euro 348 million) in 
February,  the Yule Catto Rooflights Division (euro 77 million) in May, and
the Dolomite Group and Northern Ohio Paving Company (combined euro 179
million) in June.   

Commenting on these developments, Liam O'Mahony, CRH Chief Executive, said:

'We are particularly pleased with the success of the continuing programme of
small and mid-sized deals across all our product and regional groups;  27 such
deals have been completed in the first half of 2000 which, together with the
four larger deals already announced, brings cumulative development activity
for the year to date to over euro 940 million. Taken together, the initiatives
announced today add considerably to the strength of CRH and play an important 
role in continuing the strategic thrust of the Group.'

Europe - Materials : euro 6.6 million 

Acquisition of a producer of blocks and concrete in Ireland and of two asphalt
production and contracting businesses in Finland.

Europe - Products & Distribution : euro 97.0 million

Concrete Products Group: Four add-on acquisitions in the Netherlands and
Belgium together with the buyout of Remacle and the installation of a new
paver plant by Marlux.

Building Products Group: Acquisition of two EPS insulation producers in Poland
and the UK.

Distribution Group: Increased shareholding in Materiaux Service in France;
acquisition of a roofing materials distributor and the relocation/expansion of
two DIY stores in the Netherlands.

North America - Materials : euro 108.2 million

Nine bolt-on acquisitions in the West, Northeast and Mid-West, together with
an investment in a liquid asphalt terminal in Utah. 

North America - Products & Distribution : euro 127.4 million

Four add-on acquisitions by the Precast Group expanding its existing
operations in the Northeast and Southeast regions. 

Acquisition by the Architectural Products Group of a leading national producer
of pre-mixed concrete and asphaltic mixes, sealers and coatings, and of a
concrete block manufacturer in New York State, together with the addition of
new paver capacity near Boston.

Acquisition by the Distribution Group of businesses based in Wisconsin and
Maryland.

Contact at Dublin  404 1000  ([phone])

Liam O'Mahony               Chief Executive
Harry Sheridan              Finance Director
Myles Lee                   General Manager - Finance

Detailed Announcement:

CRH ANNOUNCES EURO 339M NEW DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces a range of
development initiatives totalling euro 339 million undertaken during the first
half of 2000.  These initiatives are in addition to the four larger
acquisitions, costing a total of euro 604 million, which have been announced
separately by the Group this year: The Shelly Company (euro 348 million) in 
February,  the Yule Catto Rooflights Division (euro 77 million) in May, and
the Dolomite Group and Northern Ohio Paving Company (combined euro 179
million) in June.   

Europe - Materials : euro 6.6 million

Ireland
Ballintra Concrete, a block and concrete manufacturer based in Donegal,
Ireland, was acquired in April 2000, expanding the production capacity of
Roadstone's existing operations in the northwest region.
 
Finland
As a logical extension to Rudus Finland's existing aggregates and readymixed
concrete activities, the Group has entered the Finnish asphalt sector through
the acquisition of two asphalt production and contracting companies.  Espoon
Asfaltti, which operates in the Helsinki area, was acquired in May,  and
Asfalttinelio,  based in central Finland,  was acquired in June.  
 
The total cost of these three acquisitions by the Europe - Materials Division,
which have combined annual sales of euro 6 million, is euro 6.6 million,
including goodwill of euro 4.6 million.

Europe - Products & Distribution : euro 97.0 million

Concrete Products Group
The Concrete Products Group expanded its operations in the Benelux with the
acquisition of four companies in the first six months of 2000.  Zwaans,
acquired in January, and Van Welkenhuysen, acquired in March, are specialist
concrete product manufacturers in the Netherlands and Belgium respectively
which add niche drainage and environmental products to the extensive range
already manufactured by Struyk Verwo.  In April, the acquisition of concrete 
flooring producers Monoliet in the Netherlands and Omnidal in Belgium allowed
the group to streamline and reorganise its flooring activities to offer an
enhanced portfolio of products to a wider geographic market.  These four
companies have combined annual sales of euro 40 million.

In June, the Concrete Products Group bought out the remaining 50% shareholding
in Remacle in accordance with the terms of a buyout option negotiated at the
time of CRH's initial investment in 1998.  Remacle, with sales of euro 14
million, is a leading manufacturer of concrete vaults and precast concrete
products in the Walloon region of southern Belgium.  Also in Wallonia, and in
association with Remacle, the Marlux decorative concrete paving operation 
has commenced construction of a new paver plant which will relieve capacity
constraints at Marlux's existing location and will facilitate new product
development to service the growing decorative concrete paving market.  

Building Products Group
Two expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS) businesses with combined annual
sales of euro 35 million have been acquired by the Building Products Group's
Insulation Division.  Termo-Organika, acquired in February, is based in Mielec
in southeastern Poland, and is CRH's first investment in the insulation sector
in Poland; it will enable the Group to capitalise on the strong growth
projected for that industry. Springvale Insulation, acquired in May, operates
from factories in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England and in Ballyclare in Northern
Ireland. The combination of Springvale with Combat, which has three EPS
locations in England, will consolidate the group's market position in the UK,
and should result in operating efficiencies and synergies.

Distribution Group
In June, the Group increased its shareholding in Paris-based builders
merchant, Materiaux Service, which has annual sales of over euro 80 million,
from 50% to 87.5%.

In March 2000, the Distribution Group acquired a specialist roofing materials
distributor in the Netherlands with annual sales of circa euro 7 million,
increasing the network of roofing materials branches to 11.  In addition, as
part of the group's continuing programme to upgrade its chain of 43 DIY stores
throughout the Netherlands, the outlets at Tiel and Apeldoorn Zuid have been
relocated and expanded.

The total cost of the seven Europe - Products & Distribution acquisitions,
together with the increased shareholdings in Remacle and Materiaux Service, is
euro 83.1 million.  Goodwill on these acquisitions amounted to euro 37.7
million.  The three capital projects total euro 13.9 million.

North America - Materials : euro 108.2 million

West
Expansion of the western region has continued successfully into the first six
months of 2000, during which five bolt-on acquisitions, with combined annual
sales of euro 40 million, were completed. 
 
The group's Staker and Parson operations were strengthened and expanded by the
acquisition in January of England Construction of Tooele, Utah, an aggregates,
asphalt and readymix business with 40 million tons of high quality reserves.
Also in the Mountain region, the group has installed a liquid asphalt
blending, storage and transfer terminal at Ogden, Utah, which will provide a
competitive advantage to the Staker and Parson operations by insulating the
group against price and quality fluctuations of this key raw material.

Owen Excavation, an aggregates and paving/excavation contractor based in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was acquired in May and has been integrated into the
existing Evans Construction business in that area.  

In the Southwest (Colorado and New Mexico), the acquisition of Basalt
Construction in April and of Telluride Sand and Gravel in May supplement the
existing operations of the group in the 'Four Corners' region.   In April, the
aggregate, asphalt and asphalt paving operations of Hills Materials and Cundy
Asphalt Paving in South Dakota and eastern Wyoming were extended into western
Montana with the acquisition of Jensen Paving of Missoula, Montana.
   
Northeast  
In February, Tilcon Connecticut acquired the construction materials assets of
Soneco, an aggregates, asphalt and readymix concrete business based in
southeastern Connecticut.   Also in February, Tilcon New York acquired the
assets of Port Dock and Stone, a distributor of aggregates into the New York
metropolitan area. These two acquisitions, which are important strategic
bolt-on deals for the Northeast group, have combined annual sales of euro 21
million.

Mid-West
Two acquisitions in West Virginia by The Shelly Company, Bluestone Paving
based in Princeton (acquired in March) and Waco Stone & Paving based in
Millpoint (acquired in May), extend Shelly's existing operations in the region
and strengthen its position in the fragmented Ohio/West Virginia materials
markets.  Combined annual sales for the two companies amount to euro 17
million. 

The total cost of these nine acquisitions by North America - Materials amounts
to euro 100.1 million, on which goodwill of euro 26.5 million arises.   The
cost of the capital project is euro 8.1 million.

North America - Products & Distribution : euro 127.4 million

Precast Group

In the Northeast region, the Precast Group completed three acquisitions adding
combined annual sales of euro 76 million.  The assets of Strescon Industries,
a leading plank producer serving the mid-Atlantic states from two facilities
in Maryland and Pennsylvania,  were acquired in February. This was followed by
the acquisition in March of Sabatini Concrete Pipe,  a pipe producer located
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the acquisition in April of Chase Precast, 
a manufacturer of precast utility products located in North Brookfield,
Massachusetts.  These three deals significantly expand the Precast Group's
Northeast division, which now serves most of the major MSA's in the
northeastern United States with precast and hollowcore plank products.

In June, the Precast Group acquired the assets of Thorn-Orwick, a precast
business with two locations in Kentucky and Indiana and annual sales of euro 9
million.  Thorn-Orwick complements and extends the operations of Cloud
Concrete Products which was acquired in June last year. The Southeast division
now has 18 pipe and precast facilities across 7 states in the region. 

Architectural Products Group (APG)
In March, APG acquired Domine Builders Supply, the leading producer of
concrete block serving the Rochester, New York,  market.   With annual sales
of euro 10 million, Domine is an attractive bolt-on and capacity-enhancing
deal for APG's existing TCG Materials operation (now called Rochester Block)
which was acquired in December 1998. 

American Stone Mix, which is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, was
acquired by APG in June.   American Stone Mix produces a broad range of
pre-mixed concrete, mortar and asphalt products for both DIY and commercial
applications at 16 locations serving 21 states. With annual sales of
approximately euro 80 million, it is the single largest producer of SAKRETE 
products in the United States.  Together with APG's existing bagged products
operations (including Oregon-based Sakrete PNW, acquired in December 1999),
American Stone Mix represents a significant platform from which APG can grow
to national coverage in this sector. 

APG has also commenced construction of a large pallet paver plant at its
Foster-Southeastern location near Boston.  This new facility, which is
expected to be fully commissioned by the end of the year, is the latest step
in APG's programme of investments to support its continued growth in the
national homecenter and hardscape sectors and follows previously announced 
investments in similar plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and
California.

Distribution Group
Two acquisitions during the first six months of 2000 have added 4 branches to
the Distribution Group bringing its network to almost 100 specialist outlets
selling roofing, siding and related products throughout the United States. 
Prestige Wholesale Supply of Wisconsin, with branches in Green Lake and
Milwaukee, was acquired in April, while Sinclair Supply Company of Maryland,
with branches in Annapolis and Baltimore, was added in June.   The addition of
Prestige and Sinclair, which have combined annual sales of approximately euro
30 million, extends the geographic and product reach of the Distribution Group
in their respective local markets.

The total cost of these eight acquisitions by North America - Products &
Distribution amounts to euro 119.4 million, including goodwill of euro 49.2
million. The cost of the capital project is euro 8.0 million.



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