Cemex has announced a September 2011 target to acquire its partner’s stake in two joint ventures with Ready Mix USA. A methodology for determining the buyout value brings the deal to an estimated $360 million, plus assumption of approximately $17 million in net debt
Sources: Cemex, Monterrey, Mexico; CP staff
Cemex has announced a September 2011 target to acquire its partner’s stake in two joint ventures with Ready Mix USA. A methodology for determining the buyout value brings the deal to an estimated $360 million, plus assumption of approximately $17 million in net debt. The transaction will span a host of assets the partners have contributed to the joint ventures since 2005: 149 concrete plants and 20 block plants located in Alabama, Georgia, the Florida panhandle, along with Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee; 10 sand & gravel pits serving certain company concrete operations; plus, cement mills in Demopolis, Ala., and Clinchfield, Ga., and 12 distribution terminals. Cemex has operated the latter assets under one joint venture; the second, centered on concrete and aggregates, will continue to operate under Ready Mix USA through the closing.
Cemex formed the joint ventures five years ago, shortly after acquiring U.S. giant RMC Industries and its London-based parent, RMC Group. Birmingham-based Ready Mix USA, founded by heirs of University of Alabama football legend Bear Bryant, emerged from the late 1990s as a key player in ready mixed and block throughout Alabama and Georgia. The concrete and aggregate joint venture saw namesake operations integrated with Southeast properties of RMC and Rinker Materials Corp., which Cemex took over in mid-2007. An initial joint venture agreement offered Cemex a buyout option after three years; terms changed as the company rolled additional properties to the concrete and aggregate joint venture following the Rinker deal.