CRH's foray into Scandinavia and eastern Europe has been well-received, with most analysts adding a couple of cents to their 1999 and 2000 earnings forecasts to reflect the impact of Finnsementti and Rudus.

The EBITDA multiple of 6 1/2 times might not have been a bargain basement price but it isn't over the top either.

Running Finnsementti and its monopoly over the Finnish cement industry must bring back fond memories of CRH's monopoly over the Irish cement industry before Sean Quinn arrived on the scene.

By all accounts, Finnsementti operates on pretty fat margins that reflect its monopoly position while the Rudus operation - the second biggest concrete producer in Finland - is also thought to have pretty healthy margins. CRH's acquisition activity in the past year has shown that the group is ready to do big deals while still having 14 development teams scouring the world for nice bolt-on acquisitions.

The three big deals of the past year, the acquisition of Ibstock and Finnsemenmtti/Rudus and the sale of Keyline, have left CRH with gearing of only 50 per cent and interest cover of six times, meaning that the group has the capacity to do more big deals.

London analysts - not always the most accurate bunch of pundits when it comes to CRH - take the view that Finsementti/ Rudus is a stepping stone to an aggressive expansion into eastern Europe.

Certainly, Poland is likely to be a much greater component of CRH's empire in a few years time.