Cemex prices Latam IPO, Colombia

Cemex announced it has priced shares of its Latin American unit Cemex Latam Holdings SA at COP12,250 (US$6.75) each in an offering from which it expects to receive about US$1.1bn.

Cemex said it priced 170.4 million shares in the unit, which is listed on the Colombian stock exchange.

Of the total shares, 148.2 million shares were sold in a public offering to investors in Colombia and in a private placement to eligible investors outside Colombia.

Another 22.2 million shares are subject to a 30-day put option granted to initial buyers of the private-placement shares.

The offering, assuming initial buyers don't exercise the put option, represents close to a 30 per cent stake in Cemex Latam, more than the company's preliminary estimate of 24 per cent.

The share offering is expected to close  on 15 November.

The sale and listing of the unit is the latest in a series of transactions by Cemex to improve its financial position and reduce debt.

Cemex Latam includes Cemex's cement and ready-mix concrete assets in Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador.