Joe Berardo to build Cimpor stake – bid expected

Portuguese businessman Joe Berardo plans to continue adding to his stake in Cimpor - Cimentos de Portugal SGPS in expectation the cement maker will be the target of a takeover bid, he told Lusa newsagency.  Speaking on the sidelines of an event staged by his wine business, Berardo said he is ’convinced that there will be a bid’ and that ’it is even indispendsable to have one, to end the situation of disruption between its main shareholders.’  He said French cement maker Lafarge or Portuguese builder Teixeira Duarte are the potential bidders. 

Last month Cimpor shareholders approved the scrapping of a 10 per cent limit on voting rights by shareholders, a move proposed by Lafarge.  Berardo has 8.8 per cent of Cimpor shares. The lock-up period for a 31.7 per cent stake held by Teixeira Duarte in Cimpor ended last year.