Mexico’s Cemex sets March 1 date for British buyout

Mexico’s Cemex, the world’s No. 3 cement maker, said on Tuesday it expects to conclude its $4.2bn cash acquisition of Britain’s RMC Group on March 1 after winning regulatory clearance from in the United States and Europe.  Cemex expects to see its sales double in the acquisition, the biggest ever by a Mexican company. Including debt, the deal is worth $5.8bn. 

Buying RMC, the world’s biggest maker of ready mix concrete, will also give Cemex a significantly bigger business base in Europe, especially Britain and Germany, and also expand its US operations.  The new Cemex will still trail global cement and concrete leaders, France’s Lafarge and Swiss-based Holcim, in terms of installed capacity. 

The US Federal Trade Commission said on Monday it cleared Cemex’s acquisition plans after Cemex agreed to sell some assets in Arizona to gain US antitrust approval.  It was the final regulatory approval needed by Cemex to go ahead with the acquisition. The European Commission cleared the RMC purchase in December.