The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, joined by the Attorney General of Tennessee, announced today that they will require CRH and its subsidiary APAC-Tennessee to divest two hot-mix asphalt plants as part of its acquisition of Standard Construction to address antitrust concerns in western Tennessee.
“Today’s settlement is a model for how government works better when federal law enforcers collaborate with states in protecting local interests from competitive harm,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “I thank Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti for his partnership to protect critical roadway infrastructure in western Tennessee and preserve the state and federal funds that pay for it.”
“State antitrust enforcers can play an important role in merger enforcement in local markets in which potential harm is limited to a single state,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General G. Charles Beller of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “I am proud of our partnership with the Tennessee Attorney General and our collective efforts to preserve competition in local asphalt markets. This enforcement action builds on recent consent settlements we have taken alongside other state attorneys general to obtain local concrete plant divestitures in California and power plant divestitures in Texas.”
The divestiture is part of a proposed settlement that was filed at the same time as a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee to block APAC’s proposed acquisition of hot-mix asphalt plants from Standard Construction. The proposed settlement, if approved by the court, will resolve concerns that the transaction, as originally proposed, would likely harm competition, leading to higher prices, lower quality, and less favorable terms for hot-mix asphalt used by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The Antitrust Division is actively collaborating with state antitrust enforcers in reviewing mergers in which potential competitive harm is local. State enforcers often bring significant local expertise, and their participation and leadership in local matters helps preserve federal resources for matters of regional and national significance.
As alleged in the complaint, APAC and Standard Construction are two of the three leading suppliers of hot-mix asphalt in western Tennessee. The acquisition, as originally proposed, would have left the Tennessee Department of Transportation and other customers with fewer choices and higher prices. The proposed settlement requires APAC and Standard to divest two hot-mix asphalt plants in western Tennessee to Dunn Construction of Birmingham, Alabama.
CRH plc, headquartered in Ireland, is a global supplier of building materials. In 2025, CRH had global sales of approximately $37.4 billion, with sales in the United States of approximately $10 billion through subsidiaries, including APAC-Tennessee, Inc. Standard Construction Group, Inc. is a privately held corporation headquartered in Cordova, Tennessee.
As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement, along with a competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days following the publication to Soyoung Choe, Acting Chief, Defense, Industrials, and Aerospace Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street NW, Suite 8700, Washington, DC 20530. At the conclusion of the public comment period, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee may enter the final judgment upon finding it is in the public interest.