Sources: U.S. Department of Justice; CP staff In the event of a Rinker Group takeover by Cemex S.A.B. de C.V., the Justice Department Antitrust Division would require the suitor to divest ready mixed, concrete block and aggregate operations in the Florida markets of Fort Walton Beach/Panama City/Pensacola, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg, and Fort Myers/Naples, plus Flagstaff and Tucson, Ariz.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice; CP staff In the event of a Rinker Group takeover by Cemex S.A.B. de C.V., the Justice Department Antitrust Division would require the suitor to divest ready mixed, concrete block and aggregate operations in the Florida markets of Fort Walton Beach/Panama City/Pensacola, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg, and Fort Myers/Naples, plus Flagstaff and Tucson, Ariz. The Justice Department announced its position on a prospective Rinker Materials Corp.-Cemex USA combination last week after months of reviewing market impact of what would be the largest merger to date in heavy building materials.
Rinker Materials’ ready mixed, block and aggregate portfolio includes 290-plus sites. The sale of 39 properties to Justice-approved buyers would fulfill terms of a consent decree the government outlined last week, and resolve a concurrent civil antitrust lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to block the proposed transaction. Justice contends that without the divestitures, the proposed deal would lessen competition in certain Arizona and Florida metropolitan areas, resulting in increased prices for ready mixed, concrete block, and aggregate sold to customers handling state Department of Transportation and large building projects. Cemex addressed similar circumstances two years ago, when U.S. regulators’ approval of its plan to combine its U.S. business with RMC USA Inc. hinged on disposal of ready mixed plants in Tucson. Those properties wound up with California Portland.