"We forgot the core principle of CRH, which is that we used to make businesses better. We will never again go down the road of buying market trends and growth, instead of understanding how to make [the businesses we buy] better."

Those were were the eminently sensible words of the then new CRH chief executive Albert Manifold (pictured) in February, as he diagnosed where the company went wrong during the boom.

Before the crash, CRH bought a bucketload of overpriced, bubble-driven assets in western Europe. Manifold's subtext in his February speech was clear: CRH had not been careful enough, it was too fad driven, and it did not think critically enough about its acquisitions strategy in the past.

So, given his diagnosis of its past sins, we must assume Manifold must be thinking in such critical fashion now, as he contemplates CRH's strategy for the estimated €6 billion or so of spillover assets due to hit the market from the $55 billion merger between Lafarge and Holcim. CRH, according to a Reuters report this week, now appears to be considering a link-up with Cemex to bid for the job lot of globally spread assets, which Lafarge-Holcim must offload to assuage competition concerns.

The speculation has split analysts in Dublin. Davy yesterday said a joint bid with Cemex would not be “unreasonable” given the strength of the Irish company’s balance sheet, and the vendors’ wish to sell to “disciplined industry players”, which the two companies are.

CRH could snaffle assets in eastern European markets and perhaps also the Philippines, while Cemex could take all the assets in the rest of Europe, where CRH is already strong.

Merrion Capital, however, expressed surprise that CRH, previously rumoured to be linking up with private equity, would instead team up with such a debt-addled partner as Cemex.

This is a big opportunity for Manifold to put his stamp on things at Ireland’s most valuable listed company. Whatever tack he takes, he should be held to the sensible standards he espoused in February. CRH should only buy what is right for it and not what is fashionable.