US justice department says CRH must divest quarry to close US deal

The US justice department has said it will require Irish construction giant CRH and its US subsidiary to divest Rocky Gap quarry as a condition of its planned acquisition of privately-held Pounding Mill Quarry Corp.

The divestiture of the Virginia quarry is intended to preserve local competition in the supply of aggregate and asphalt concrete, the department said in a statement.

“As a result of the proposed acquisition, CRH would have owned nearly all of the aggregate quarries that supply southern West Virginia,” said assistant attorney general Makan Delrahim, of the antitrust division.

CRH, through its CRH Americas Materials unit, is North America’s biggest maker of concrete products, and second largest supplier of aggregate materials for construction.

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Pounding Mill is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Bluefield, Virginia. It owns and operates four quarries – three in Virginia and one in West Virginia – from which it supplies aggregate. In 2015 Pounding Mill had sales of $44 million. – Additional reporting: Reuters