Australian Rinker is named as defendant
The US Department of Justice filed an amended complaint today in the District Court in Washington, DC, naming concrete maker Australian Rinker Group Limited as a defendant in the Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Mexican cement producer Cemex.
The Department filed the amended complaint to make Rinker a party to the lawsuit since the Rinker Board of Directors approved Cemex’s cash tender offer for the company for US$15.3 billion.
Along with its amended complaint, the Department today filed an amended hold separate stipulation and proposed order that requires Cemex and Rinker to preserve the assets to be divested under the consent decree and to hold their assets separate until the divestitures are completed. The Department also filed a motion seeking the court’s entry of the order.
It’s worth mentioning that the Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit on April 4th to block Cemex’s proposed acquisition of Rinker. At the same time, the Department filed a proposed consent decree that will require Cemex to divest 39 ready mix concrete, concrete block, and aggregate facilities in Arizona and Florida in the event the Mexican company succeeds in its takeover.
Rinker generates nearly 85% of its income in the US, which led antitrust authority to forecast an increase of premixed concrete prices without the divestitures.
Rinker is one of the top 10 construction materials companies in the world, with operations supplying aggregate, cement, concrete, concrete block, asphalt, concrete pipe and other building materials.
About 80% of its revenue come from its US subsidiary Rinker Materials. It also owns concrete quarry products company Readymix and concrete products group Humes in Australia.
Published under Cement News
