CRH buys 26% stake in Chinese cement maker

Ireland-based CRH PLC, an international building materials group, has recently acquired a 26% stake in the cement operations of Jilin Yatai (Group) Co Ltd<600881> for EUR 224 million, the company said in a statement on its website.

CRH said the Chinese cement maker's major investment program is "well-advanced" and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2009. Then, its annual production capacity will increase to 18 million tons.

With an annual production capacity of 14 million tons, Yatai Group is the largest cement maker in northeast China. The company is engaged in the production and sale of cement, as well as real estate operation. During the whole year of 2007, the company completed constructions of 48,900 sq m of properties and sold 109,200 square meters of properties.