According to Engineering News, in addition to the buyout offer cement producer PPC has received from Fairfax Africa Investments and AfriSam, as well as the nonbinding expression of interest from LafargeHolcim, the company has now also sparked the interest of a third possible buyer, CRH. CRH has indicated that it is considering submitting an all-cash proposal to acquire a controlling stake in PPC.
To align the CRH process with that of LafargeHolcim and Fairfax, the independent board of PPC intends to provide diversified international building materials company CRH an initial period to conduct due diligence of PPC to allow CRH an opportunity to, if it resolves to do so, submit an updated expression of interest during the week of November 20, which will include a value per share for PPC. Headquartered in Dublin, CRH is listed on the London, Dublin and New York stock exchanges and has a market capitalisation of €27-billion. The Fairfax partial offer was still proceeding concurrently with the engagements with LafargeHolcim and CRH.