Midland cement giant Lafarge Tarmac is being sold to Ireland’s CRH as part of the £5 billion sale of assets by merger partners Lafarge and Holcim.

The disposal of Lafarge Tarmac , which has its UK headquarters in Solihull, will help France’s Lafarge and Holcim secure regulatory clearance for their tie-up. Switzerland’s Holcim owns Aggregate Industries in the UK.

Dublin-based CRH, which is Ireland’s biggest company, is buying assets covering operations in Europe, North America and emerging markets.

Lafarge Tarmac employs 6,600 staff at 330 sites and produces 45 million tonnes of aggregates and seven million tonnes of asphalt a year,

The total deal is worth £4.9 billion and will give CRH the number one market position in the UK in cement, aggregates, ready-mix concrete, asphalt and construction.

Lafarge Tarmac was formed in January 2013 following the merger of Anglo American and Lafarge’s cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and asphalt surfacing operations in the UK.

In order for the Lafarge Tarmac sale to CRH to proceed, the operation’s 50 per cent owner Anglo American will first sell its stake in the UK business to Lafarge.

As well as ownership of Lafarge Tarmac, the deal will give CRH a presence in a number of new markets such as Germany and the Czech Republic.

It has been reported that private equity firm KKR is set to pick up any assets which CRH may need to sell in order to address competition concerns.