Dublin-based material powerhouse CRH plc says that its U.S. subsidiary, Oldcastle Materials Inc., is buying APAC, the highway construction and materials unit of Ashland Inc., for $1.3 billion. Liam O'Mahoney, CRH's chief executive, says Ashland's properties in the Midwest and South will fit nicely with CRH's U.S. materials businesses in the Northeast. APAC's management will remain intact, but CRH says it will put more emphasis on APAC's existing materials business and make the contracting segment secondary. Executives of Covington, Ky.-based Ashland say now is a good time to sell the unit and concentrate on Ashland's chemicals business, noting the sharp increase in the cost of hot-mix asphalt in the last year and forecasts that federally funded highway work will increase 4% over the next four years.