CRH is an international building material company. “Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, CRH operates in 35 countries, employed approximately 80,000 people and its focus on three core business, primly materials, value-added building products and specially building material distribution. “(http://www.crh.ie/) CRH’s stocks are listed in both the Irish Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange. There are two core strategies in CRH, development strategy and acquisition approach.” CRH’s approach to acquisitions is a devolved process but follows a rigorous and controlled procedure of: Identifying deals, courtship/negotiation, Evaluation and integration.” (http://www.crh.ie/)
What are the key opportunities and challenges facing CRH in its acquisition strategy in both advanced and emerging economies?
There are two main opportunities in advanced economies. Firstly, the economic crises raise opportunities to make acquisitions at a lower price. Better deals can be made. Due to their dominance in almost all domestic markets, they are able to expand into other regions by acquiring previously well known industry names that are struggling or in the process of closing down. They have capabilities to come in and change things around. CRH has opportunity to acquire more small and medium sized firms. This supports their strategy of how to achieve growth which is one of their primary requirements Secondly, The United States being CRH’s main market is still very fragmented. Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes, Richard Whittington ,(2008 p.718) state that“Building materials and products are largely commodities, with little differences between suppliers, which completely mainly on the basis of price. Construction is a mature sector in the western world, reflecting stable economic activity and population.”
Also two opportunities will be proved in emerging economies. “In newly emerging areas of the