Activist Cevian increases CRH stake to 4%

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Activist investor Cevian Capital said on Friday it had increased its stake in Ireland’s CRH to 4%, with its managing partner saying he saw pent-up demand for the company’s products overcoming near-term “cyclical uncertainty”.

The stake in the building materials firm, the second largest after Blackrock Inc, was up from 3.6% disclosed in March.

“Despite improved performance over the last few years, CRH is today valued at a record discount to its peers” but has “strong fundamentals”, Cevian Capital managing partner Christer Gardell said in an emailed statement.

(Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Mark Potter)