Peruvian Cement Producers Ponder Merger

Peru’s Cementos Lima is pondering a potential merger with its counterpart Cemento Andino, also a Peruvian company, and has hired Citi to advise on the potential deal, it says. Citi is expected to value both companies to better gauge an appropriate exchange of shares for merger purposes. Officials at Cementos Lima could not immediately comment. A spokesman for Cemento Andino declined to offer any details of the potential deal. Talks between the companies emerge at a time of some capital markets activity for the Peruvian cement sector. In early February, Cementos Pacasmayo, a competing peer of Andino and Lima’s, made its ADR debut with a $264.5m equity follow-on. Many observers see a potential upside for the sector given the Andean country’s growth prospects.