Taking a public company private is rarely straightforward. Doing so in Mexico, through a mandatory tender offer, a short-dated bridge facility and a multi-layered private capital refinancing that brought new international investors into the country, is rarer still. That combination makes Interceramic’s take-private financing the winner of Private Debt Deal of the Year.
The transaction returned Mexico’s leading ceramic tile producer to full control of its founding family while delivering a durable and carefully engineered capital structure that blended bank debt, long-term private placements and subordinated capital. It also demonstrated how private debt can be deployed not merely as a funding source, but as a strategic tool to execute a complex corporate transition.
Interceramic’s path back to private ownership began in late 2023, when long-standing shareholders signaled their intention to exit. Rather than introduce new equity partners, the Almeida family opted to take the company private.
“We had some great shareholders for many years, but late in 2023 they told us they wanted to cash out their positions,” says Victor Almeida, Interceramic’s chief executive. “As the economy was doing well and we still wanted to do much in the company, we opted to take it private again.”
Because Interceramic was listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange and the family sought to acquire more than 50% of outstanding shares, local regulations required a public tender offer open to all shareholders. To fund the acquisition, a holding company controlled by the Almeida family raised a $600 million bridge facility from a group of international and regional banks in mid-2024. The lenders also committed a $65 million revolving credit facility for general corporate purposes.
The bridge allowed the family to acquire up to 61.35% of the company’s shares and initiate the delisting process, which Almeida describes as arduous.
“The red tape required is spectacular,” he recalls.
Structurally, the bridge financing was designed with a built-in migration path. Proceeds were injected into a special purpose vehicle that conducted the tender offer, with provisions allowing the debt to transition from the holding company to Interceramic once control had been consolidated. After settlement, an operating company tranche was drawn and used to refinance existing debt, acquire the tender vehicle and repay the holding company facility through a cashless settlement.
With the delisting completed in December 2024, the family and its advisers turned to replacing the short-dated bridge with permanent capital. The solution was a carefully calibrated refinancing that closed in February 2025 and totaled approximately $640 million.
At the core of the take-out was a $320 million US private placement placed with seven institutional investors, many of whom had never previously invested in Mexico. The fixed-rate, long-tenor notes were complemented by a $135 million subordinated debt facility, adding flexibility while optimizing the overall risk profile of the capital structure.
These private instruments sat alongside a dual-currency senior secured term loan and revolving credit facility provided by a syndicate of banks, together creating a layered financing that balanced cost, maturity and covenant flexibility across different tranches. The senior bank facilities included both US dollar and peso-denominated debt, reflecting the company’s operating footprint and cash-flow profile.
Aligning banks, private placement investors and subordinated lenders required extensive coordination on intercreditor terms, collateral sharing and cash-flow waterfalls. The financing also incorporated a tailored foreign-exchange hedging program using call spread and collar strategies to mitigate currency risk.
Now fully private once again, Interceramic has the breathing room to focus on operations amid a more challenging macro backdrop.
“Mexico is a bit more challenging now than it was a year ago,” Almeida says. “The economy is not growing and construction activity has gone down. But we expect to have good results in 2026.”
Beyond the company itself, the transaction highlights the growing depth and sophistication of Latin America’s private debt markets, demonstrating how institutional capital can complement bank lending to deliver complex, high-impact outcomes.
Interceramic$640m Bridge Take-out Financing
Lenders: ArtCap; BBVA; BNP Paribas; HSBC; Scotiabank; BLADEX; PGIM / Prudential
M&A Advisor: Caria Capital
Counsel to Issuer: Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez; Holland & Knight; Galicia; Alvarez Alcalá
Counsel to Lenders: Skadden; MACF
