Ireland: The Times has reported that financier Dermot Desmond is believed to have taken a stake in Ecocem Materials, the fast-growing low-carbon cement maker founded by Irishman Donal O'Riain and backed by French construction materials giant Saint-Gobain. It is understood that IIU, Desmond's private equity company, moved in recent weeks to acquire as much as 11% of the company.
Founded in 2003, Ecocem manufactures cement from granulated blast-furnace slag, a byproduct of steel production. The company had sales of Euro63m in 2015, according to its most recent accounts.
