On March 1, 2005, CEMEX completed its $5.8 billion acquisition of the London-based RMC Group, which made CEMEX the worldwide leader in ready-mix concrete production and increased its exposure to European markets. With the acquisition, the company expected its annual cement production to increase to 97 million tons. Also they had hoped to see its annual sales grow to $15 billion, just shy of the market leader, Lafarge , which had sales of $17 billion. As none of these targets was met, CEMEX started looking for another suitor in its M&A push.