6th Feb 2019 12:34
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in CRH PLC were higher on Wednesday after Reuters reported Europe's largest activist investor Cevian Capital built up a stake in the Irish building materials firm.
CRH shares were up 3.9% at 2,393.00 pence, the best performer in the FTSE 100 on Wednesday.
Christer Gardell, managing partner at Cevian told Reuters: "We have actively taken advantage of the recent market turbulence to make a number of new investments and add to some existing holdings."
"The group has many strong positions in attractive markets and we are convinced that CRH’s assets could become significantly more valuable," Gardell added.
According to the news agency, the Swedish investment firm has now become CRH's second largest shareholder behind asset management firm BlackRock. However, the exact size of Cevian's stake was not disclosed by Gardell.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-crh-cevian-exclusive/exclusive-activist-investor-cevian-builds-stake-in-irelands-crh-idUKKCN1PV0KH
"Traders are taking the view that the activist investor will pressure CRH's management to make the company more efficient," commented CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
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