The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has authorized CRH Ukraine B. V. (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) to acquire shares of PrJSC “Dickergoff Cement Ukraine”, which will provide it with more than 50% of the votes in the supreme management body of the acquired asset, according to the AMCU website. The AMCU also authorized the implementation of measures that impede competition provided for in the sale and purchase agreement (subparagraph 16.1 of paragraph 16 of the share purchase agreement concluded between Dyckerhoff GMBH, CRH Ukraine B. V. and CRH Nederland B. V.”), which must be made within 24 months after the transaction is completed.
As reported, in July 2024, the AMCU announced the terms of the possible acquisition of Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine assets by CRH Group, namely the transfer of 25-28% of the shares of the PrJSC to an independent investor with a veto right.
It is expected that this investor will be the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as in December 2023 CRH signed a mandate letter with it on the joint acquisition of the assets of the Italian company Buzzi in Ukraine.
CRH Ukraine B.V. has announced its intention to acquire a 99.9775% stake in the authorized capital of PrJSC Dickergoff Cement Ukraine, which owns two cement plants in Rivne and Mykolaiv regions. The company posted the relevant notice in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) on August 12, 2024.
In June 2023, Italian cement producer Buzzi, listed by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption as an international war sponsor, reached an agreement through its subsidiary Dyckerhoff GmbH to sell part of its Eastern European business to the Irish CRH group, including its Ukrainian assets in the form of two cement plants: “Volyn-Cement (Zdolbuniv, Rivne region) and Pivden-Cement (Olshanske, Mykolaiv region). As of the summer of 2023, the purchase price was estimated at EUR 100 million.
The AMCU has been considering CRH’s application for concentration since September 2023.
CRH has been operating in Ukraine since 1999. Since November 2021, its cement enterprises in Ukraine have been operating under the Cemark brand: Podilskyi Cement JSC (Khmelnytskyi region), Cement LLC (Odesa) and Mykolaivcement PrJSC (Lviv region).
CRH is the world’s leading manufacturer of building materials. The company employs about 71 thousand people at its 3,200 facilities in 28 countries. It is the largest manufacturer of building materials in North America and Europe. The company is also represented in Asia. CRH American depositary shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
