Bank Market Waits for Cemex

The latest in a series of multi-billion dollar Latin American acquisition loans – a $12.8 billion Cemex deal to buy Rinker — is taking its time to come to market. Bankers are keeping details of the bridge financing to fund the unsolicited Cemex takeover of the Australian cement-maker under tight wraps. A banker close to the deal says no date has been set for a bank meeting and the company is still in talks with lead banks as to the structure of the facilities. The Mexican company has secured commitments from BBVA, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Royal Bank of Scotland Group. It is thought that a large part of the financing will be done through Cemex’s Spanish subsidiary, Cemex España. Citigroup Global Markets and JP Morgan Chase are advising Cemex, while Rinker has appointed UBS. Rinker’s chairman, John Morschel, said Monday that Cemex’s offer was “opportunistic and materially undervalues the company”. Juan Pablo San Agustin, Cemex’s senior vice president of corporate strategic planning, who was in Sydney meeting with investors on Tuesday, described Cemex’s offer as “compelling, attractive and fully valued,”. He declined to say whether the bid was final. The takeover, if approved, will be the largest by a Mexican company as well as the largest ever in the building materials sector. It would create the world’s largest building materials company with revenues of $23.2 billion and more than 67,000 employees in over 50 countries, according to Cemex.