Cevian Capital gets boost of almost 20 per cent with CRH investment

CEVIAN Capital, Europe’s largest activist firm and one of the biggest shareholders in Irish building materials giant CRH, generated investment gains of almost 20 per cent this year, boosted by its large Irish investment, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Stockholm-based Cevian, backed by billionaire financier Carl Icahn, also holds large minority stakes in European companies including ABB, Ericsson, SKF, Pearson, and Rexel.

Cevian first disclosed its stake in Belgard Castle headquartered CRH, back in 2019.

Shares were trading at almost three times the price by September this year, when CRH delisted from the Euronext Dublin market and moved its primary listing from London to New York.

The stock has continued to rise in the new trading venue.

While the CRH departure has paid off for shareholders, it has heightened concerns for Euronext, which has seen a loss of big names in recent years, including Greencore, DCC, Aryzta and Grafton Group.

Flutter, which operates a range of global brands including Paddy Power, replaced CRH as the biggest company on the Dublin market, but they will also delist from Euronext Dublin when it moves its primary listing to New York in early 2024.

Cevian has pushed the idea of enhancing shareholder value through considering a change in where a stock is listed.

Its managing partner Christer Gardell has previously said CRH, which had a market capitalisation of €39bn before its US move, could be worth as much as €62bn.

The Financial Times, citing investors in the Cevian Capital II fund, said it had gained about 19.5 per cent this year, nearly double the general rise in the MSCI Europe index of leading shares over the same period.

The CRH shares, up about 56 per cent this year, were a major factor in that overall result, it said.