Spanish cement maker Corporacion Uniland is mounting a legal challenge to CRH's acquisition of a 26.3 per cent stake in the company, accusing CRH of acting fraudulently.
"The Board of Directors ... today began legal action to force the Irish multinational CRH to relinquish more than a quarter of Uniland's shares, which it purchased unlawfully six weeks ago," Uniland said in a statement.
CRH, which said at the end of last year that it had spent about €300 million for just over one-quarter of the privately owned company, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Shares in CRH, Ireland's second-biggest company by market value, were up 0.6 per cent at €26.65 euros by 2:40pm versus a 1.1 per cent gain in the Iseq.
Uniland said that, in buying the shares indirectly via holding companies, CRH had acted "fraudulently and in violation of the company's articles". "Likewise, the board of Uniland considers that the presence of CRH damages the independence of the company, which is one of the strategic principles of its commercial activity."
The Spanish firm, which is owned largely by the families of its founders, said it had made its feelings known to CRH representatives both on paper and at an extraordinary shareholder meeting on January 25th.
It added that the owners of the 74 per cent of shares which were not sold to CRH had come to a binding agreement to protect the company against CRH.
A writ against CRH and former shareholders, including individuals and holding companies, was presented at the Commercial Court in Barcelona yesterday, Uniland said.