CemArgos Expands in CentAm

Cementos Argos (CemArgos) has agreed to buy the Honduras assets of France’s Lafarge for EUR232m ($306m), it says. The Colombian gets Lafarge’s 53.3% stake in its Honduran business. With an Ebitda of $65m in 2012, CemArgos says the transaction implies a 8.6x multiple, and notes the growth potential in the Honduran market. The buy is the latest in the western hemisphere for the unit of Grupo Argos, and follows the purchase of Lafarge’s US assets in 2011. CemArgos is to fund the purchase with proceeds from the $880m equity follow-on held earlier this year. Though the acquisition does not promise aggressive volume growth, Creditcorp, says “the impressive efficiency of the operations which reflect in a 49.6% Ebitda margin, well above the industry’s margins in the LatAm, Caribbean and US Regions.” It calls the price “fair.” The deal remains to be approved by Honduran authorities. CemArgos did not use an outside advisor, according to a spokeswoman. A Lafarge spokeswoman declines to comment on outside advisory. The minority position in the Lafarge Honduras unit is owned by investors including the IPM military pension fund, she says.