Cemex Considers long-term bond to pay bank debt
Cemex is considering selling a 5-year to 10-year bond within six months to pay bank debt and push maturities beyond 2014, Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Zambrano said.
Capital markets have opened enough for the company to try to sell a bond only months after completing an agreement with banks to refinance $15 billion of debt in August, Zambrano said in an interview today in Monterrey, Mexico. The sale would be in addition to a convertible bond Cemex has said it will sell.
“The indication we have so far is that there is significant market for us in long-term 5-, 7-, 10-year paper,” Zambrano said. “I don’t know exactly what we will do, but definitely we will try to stretch our payment schedules.”
The company has made no decision, spokesman Jorge Perez said. “We are evaluating alternatives that strengthen more quickly our financial flexibility,” Perez said after the interview.
Cemex wants to regain its financial health and investment- grade rating as quickly as possible, Zambrano said. The company has already taken steps to repay debt with a share sale in September that raised net proceeds of $1.78 billion and the sale of its Australian operations in October for $1.7 billion. Published under Cement News
