CRH plc was formed through a merger in 1970 of two leading Irish public companies, Cement Limited (established in 1936) and Roadstone, Limited (1949). The newly-formed group was the sole producer of cement and the principal producer of aggregates, concrete products and asphalt in Ireland. In 1970 CRH had sales of c. €27 million, c. 95% in Ireland.
Since that time, CRH’s strategic vision has been to become an international leader in building materials, delivering superior and sustained shareholder returns, while reducing its dependence on individual markets and achieving a balance in its geographic presence and portfolio of products.
CRH today is a diversified building materials group with operations in 36 countries and employing approximately 76,000 people at over 3,600 locations. Our operations now focus on three closely related core businesses: primary materials, value-added building products and building materials distribution. In 2011 CRH had sales of €18.1 billion generated from operations across the United States, Europe and emerging markets.