CRH Americas History

The company’s footprint continued to expand, and by 1985, 24 subsidiary companies had merged under the Shelly umbrella.

1986: CRH acquired Heras, the largest manufacturer of fencing and security solutions in the Netherlands, known for its strong brand recognition and innovation culture.

Meanwhile, CRH had also built up a number of strong regional distribution networks, such as in the United Kingdom, where it renamed its building merchants network as Keyline in 1988.

CRH's expansion also included an ever-increasing range of products, such as its entry into the United States glassmaking market with the purchase of 13 plants for a total cost of $135 million in 1990.

The United States retained the group's growth focus, with further acquisitions in 1994 including Balf Co. in Connecticut, Lebanon Rock in Pennsylvania, and additional quarry and asphalt operations in New York.

The arrival of Don Godson as company CEO in 1995 signaled the start of accelerated expansion for the company.

1997: The acquisition of Permacon provided a foothold in the Canadian architectural products market plus a welcome introduction to professionally installed hardscapes, which would in time become CRH's successful Belgard brand.

In 1998, the company boosted its French business with the purchases of Rabnoi SA, a builders merchant company, and majority control of drainage systems and concrete vault manufacturing group Prefaest SA.

In 1999 Pennsy Supply acquired Slusser Brothers, a construction company that was a major contributor to the infrastructure improvement in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, based in Hazelton, Pennsylvania.

By the end of 2001, the group's continued purchases had boosted it past EUR 10 billion.

In 2002, the company stepped up its presence in Germany, paying EUR 214 million to acquire EHL Group, a maker of paving materials and products.

2003: CRH acquires the Netherlands' Cementbouw, its largest acquisition to date, for EUR 639 million.

2006: In the same year as its shares began trading on the NYSE, CRH entered the US cement production market for the first time with a 50% ownership of the American Cement Company.

In 2007 Pennsy Supply acquired McMinn's Asphalt and Lancaster Ready Mix companies which was operated by Pennsy Supply.

2008: The worldwide financial downturn led to a significant shift in CRH’s short-term focus and a curtailment of development activity as the economic environment deteriorated.

With consolidation in Europe, entry into US cement for the first time and investments in emerging markets, CRH reached sales of over €17 billion in 2009.

In 2012, Slusser Brothers was renamed Pennsy Supply, North Region.

2013: CRH continued to build its presence in Eastern Europe with major transactions including the acquisition of Mykolaiv Cement, in the Ukraine.

2014: Active portfolio management was to the fore in 2014 with the Group spending €190 million on 21 acquisitions and initiating a divestment programme delivering proceeds of €350 million from 16 transactions.

2015: CRH entered the top three in building materials globally with the acquisition of a global portfolio of assets from Lafarge-Holcim for an enterprise value of €6.5 billion.

2017 – Fels lime joins the CRH family

In 2018, Pennsy Supply, Inc. became a member of Oldcastle's parent company, CRH. CRH is one of the leading global brands in the building materials industry today.

2019: With the divestment of the Europe Distribution business for an enterprise value of €1.64 billion and the sale of its cement operations in India, CRH continued to reshape its portfolio.

2020: As CRH marked 50 years in operation, the unprecedented, challenging backdrop of COVID-19 brought out the best in CRH. The Group acted swiftly in response, working together to keep its people safe, deliver for its customers, create value and maintain performance excellence.