Colombia Argos secures $480m in loans
Colombia’s largest cement maker Cementos Argos SA said it secured a $480m loan with BNP Paribas SA and Citigroup Inc, the company said in a filing to the securities regulator Wednesday.
The Medellin-based company said it used the proceeds for liability management purposes such as reducing the costs of its debt.
The two banks offered to lend as much as $648m to Argos, the company said.
During 2005, Argos bought two cement companies in the U.S. for a total amount of $257m, and in the first quarter of this year, it agreed to buy RMCC Group Inc. (RMCC.AJ), a U.S. ready-mixed concrete supplier, for $435m.
Argos is the fifth-largest cement company in Latin America and controls 12 ports in the region and in the US, including four ports in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
Published under Cement News
