Cemex not Buying TPI Polene

Cemex  has announced that it is not in talks to acquire Thai cement company TPI Polene, despite a report to the contrary published by Mexican newspaper El Economista. Cemex already operates a unit in Thailand and is not in talks to make an acquisition in that country. At the same time, in a sign that its business is recovering following the 1997 economic crisis, Italian-Thai Development Plc (Ital-Thai) has earmarked nearly Bt3bn for investment in the 2003-2004 fiscal year. Ital-Thai sold its cement business, Saraburi Cement Plc, to Cemex, two years ago as part of the company`s Bt22-billion debt-restructuring plan. Since then, Ital-Thai`s major shareholder, the Kannasutha family, has come back to take a nearly 50-per-cent stake in the firm after the family reduced its holding from 65 per cent to 40 per cent during the debt restructuring in 2001.