Irish building supplies groups CRH has agreed to pay €6.5 billion for assets that rivals Lafarge and Holcim needed to sell to secure regulatory approval for their planned merger.

CRH, the leading producer of asphalt for road building in the United States, said yesterday the deal would expand its global reach, making it the largest building supplier in central and eastern Europe and the third biggest in the world.

It will fund the purchase, which will double its exposure to emerging markets, with €2 billion of cash, new debt and a 9.99 per cent equity placing, it said in a statement.

“We are acquiring a quality portfolio of assets, which complement our existing positions, at an attractive valuation and at the right point of the (economic) cycle,” said CRH chief executive Albert Manifold. Lafarge and Holcim announced merger plans last year, hoping to cut costs and tackle overcapacity and weak demand. Their new company will be the world’s biggest cement maker with $44 billion in annual sales.

Holcim and Lafarge initially received more than 60 tentative bids from industry and private equity firms for some or all of the assets.

In a conference call with reporters, the chief executives of the merging firms said the CRH deal price included the assumption by the Irish firm of about €1.3 billion of debt.

CRH, which had a net debt of around €2.5 billion or 1.5 times earnings at the end of 2014, is also embarking on a disposal plan of its own.