Ash Grove Cement gives stockholder approval for CRH merger

Ash Grove Cement Company has announced that its previous agreement for the merger with CRH plc, under which CRH plc will acquire Ash Grov Cement, has been approved by stockholders holding more than a majority of the outstanding voting stock, acting by written consent.

Following execution of the CRH merger agreement, stockholders representing approximately 63.4 per cent of the outstanding voting stock delivered written consents approving the transaction, of which, consents representing approximately 31.5 per cent of the outstanding voting stock became effective immediately, says Business Wire.

The remaining consents, representing approximately 31.9 per cent of the outstanding voting stock, became effective today upon expiration of the window shop period under the CRH merger agreement, thereby constituting stockholder approval of the transaction.

As permitted under the CRH merger agreement, Ash Grove subsequently provided confidential information to Summit Materials LLC, but Summit Materials LLC did not submit a definitive proposal.

As the CRH merger agreement has now been approved by stockholders, no further action by any Ash Grove stockholder is required to approve the merger agreement and Ash Grove has cancelled its previously-announced special meeting of stockholders that was scheduled for 1 November 2017.

The transaction is currently expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018, subject to receipt of regulatory approval and satisfaction of other customary conditions, though there can be no assurance regarding timing of completion of regulatory processes.