Irish building materials group CRH has hired Bank of America to launch the sale of its European distribution business in a deal valuing the unit at about €2bn including debt, sources familiar with the matter said. Irish building materials group CRH has hired Bank of America to launch the sale of its European distribution business in a deal valuing the unit at about €2bn including debt, sources familiar with the matter said. CRH hires Bank of America to launch the sale of its European distribution businessThe sale is expected to kick off next month and has already drawn interest from a series of buyout funds including Advent, Lone Star and CVC, the sources said. Lone Star, which owns Nordic building materials supplier Stark, is also working on a similar deal to buy Saint Gobain's Raab Karcher business which specialises in providing building materials to the German market. While the whole group had its core earnings up 7pc to €3.3bn last year, the European distribution business was underperforming, with core earnings down 1pc.

Source: Irish Independent April 12, 2019 12:45 UTC