Taiheiyo Cement to buy RMC’s Arizona plants

Taiheiyo Cement Corp will spend around US$15.9m to purchase the ready-mixed concrete and aggregate operations that RMC Group runs in the US state of Arizona.  The deal, to be completed by year-end through a US subsidiary, will enable Taiheiyo Cement to establish comprehensive production in the U.S. for everything from cement and ready-mixed concrete to aggregate. 

Cemex which acquired RMC following their agreement in September 2004, decided to sell its ready-mixed concrete and aggregate operations after the US Federal Trade Commission advised the world’s third-largest cement company that doing so would prevent it from violating that country’s antitrust laws. 

Taiheiyo Cement expanded into cement production in the U.S. by acquiring California Portland Cement Co. in October 1990.  The firm believes that purchasing RMC’s Arizona operations will increase California Portland’s sales by about US$100m from the US$422m it generated in fiscal 2004.