CRH facing legal battle after buying Spanish company

Building materials giant CRH is facing a legal battle in Spain after Spanish cement company Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) said it has paid over E1 billion to own over half of the Catalan cement firm Uniland.

It has been reported in Spain that CRH went to court in Barcelona trying to block any sale of Uniland. CRH owns 26.5% of the company and says it has the right of first refusal on the remainder of the firm.
CRH is Europe’s third-biggest maker of building materials. Uniland stated in February that the stock bought should have been given to existing shareholders first.

CPV said that the deal makes it the biggest cement firm in Spain. It is expected to have a turnover of over E1 billion by 2007 and core profit of over E600 million.
CPV said that after the acquisition, it will have an output capacity of 18.8 million tonnes. Shareholders owning an extra 22.5% of Uniland have a five-year put option to sell their shares to CPV at the same price.