The Quester family signed an agreement to sell building materials retail chain Quester Baustoffhandel GmbH to Irish cement and construction materials group CRH on July 22, 2005.  No financial details were revealed.   The deal is subject to anti-trust approval. 
 
Quester will likely be in charge of CRH business in central and eastern Europe and the planned market entry in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary. CRH will keep Quester’s brand and Stefan Marolt will remain CEO.
 
The Quester family will keep their stake in Austrian franchise company DFH Dienstleistungs- und Vertriebssysteme fuer den Handel GesmbH, jointly operated with German franchise group NBB AG. 
 
Quester runs 31 outlets in Austria and reports EUR250m ((US$304.3m) annual turnover. It employs 770. The chain posted EUR2.9m (US$3.5m) net profit in 2004. In 2000 and 2001 the company strengthened its market position with the acquisition of Stadlbauer and Schoemer group.  Published under Cement News