(Trinidad Express) – Mexican cement manufacturer Cemex is paying US$86.36 million for Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) and its three cement plants in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the company has said.
In a February 10 statement from Kingston, Jamaica, Cemex subsidiary Sierra Trading — after closing its offer to TCL shareholders — said: “Based on the current tally, the total consideration to be paid by Sierra for the TCL shares taken up pursuant to the offer will be approximately US$86.36 million. Payment in respect of TCL shares taken up by Sierra is expected to be made in Jamaica on or before February 21 at the rate of $5.07 or US$0.76 or the Jamaican currency equivalent of $5.07, depending on the currency option selected by TCL shareholders in Jamaica.”
TCL in Jamaica is known as the Caribbean Cement Company Ltd while Sierra Trading (Sierra) is an indirect subsidiary of New York-listed Cemex.
The company said its offer and takeover bid dated December 5, 2016, and amended January 9, 2017 was closed in Jamaica at 2 p.m. two Tuesdays ago.
Citing Jamaica Central Securities Depository (JCSD) Trustee Services Ltd, Cemex “reported that as at the time of closing the number of TCL shares tendered in Jamaica in response to the offer was 4,116,516. Sierra will accept and pay for all TCL shares validly tendered. The offer closed in Trinidad and Tobago on January 24, and in Barbados on February 8. The number of TCL shares tendered and accepted in those countries was as follows: (a) Trinidad and Tobago=109,402,694 (b) Barbados=111,513.”
Thus, the total number of TCL shares tendered and accepted in response to the offer is 113,630,723 which, together with Sierra’s pre-existing shareholding in TCL (147,994,188 shares), represent approximately 69.83 per cent of the outstanding TCL shares, the statement said. Cement control
The acquisition makes Cemex the new largest cement maker and distributor in South and Central America and the Caribbean.
Using data from the company’s latest 2015 annual report, Cemex’s largest and only plant-owning competitor in the region was TCL.
The company now controls ten cement plants in the non-US Americas, up from seven prior to the TCL acquisition.
