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 Business News | April 2007 
Cemex Makes "Best and Final" Offer for Rinker
 Newswire
Rinker Group announced that Cemex has agreed to lift its cash takeover offer from US$13.00 to US$15.85 per Rinker ordinary share. The higher price represents an increase over the original bid price of US$2.85 or 22%, or an increase of US$2.98 or 23%. The Monterrey-based company also announced its intention to give existing shareholders, the option of a fixed Australian dollar price of A$19.50 per share, for their first 2,000 ordinary shares.
Cemex has also agreed to waive all conditions to the bid, except the 90% minimum acceptance condition. If the required level of acceptances is not reached, the offer will lapse unless this condition is waived. Cemex has described the offer as "best and final", in the absence of a superior proposal.
Rinker directors concluded that it is in the best interests of shareholders to recommend that shareholders accept the increased Cemex offer. Rinker chairman John Morschel said: “This recommendation has been made after careful consideration of available alternatives, and was not taken lightly.”
He said potential alternatives included transactions with industry participants and private equity investors, as well as a corporate restructure, involving the potential demerger of Rinker's Australian subsidiary, trading as Readymix, and the re-domicile of Rinker to the US.
The Cemex offer is currently scheduled to close at 7.00pm (Sydney time) on 18 May 2007 and 5.00am (New York time) on 18 May 2007.
Cement-Maker Boasts Reputation for Efficacy
El Universal
In the fully industrialized world, cement companies are not normally household names. But in Mexico, Cemex is king.
Its white ready-mix lorries with the company´s red and blue logo are almost as familiar a part of the landscape as London´s red buses, and Cemex´s numerous regional brands of cement are plastered on the shirts of soccer teams up and down the country.
Cemex´s traditional dominance of the local market and high margins - last year its operating margin was almost 40 percent - have helped fund a rampant purchasing spree abroad.
Of all the acquisitions under Lorenzo Zambrano, chairman, perhaps the most emblematic of Cemex´s aggressive style and efficiency was that of RMC, the then-troubled U.K. cement manufacturer un 2005.
At the time, some analysts were skeptical of the company´s claim that it could achieve synergies within six months of roughly US$200 million. In fact, it achieved US$360 million.
Barely a year after closing the deal, Cemex´s ratio of net debt had fallen to 2.3 times earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization, easily surpassing its target of 2.7 times.
The deal has helped turn Cemex into the world´s third-largest cement manufacturer with a presence in more than 50 countries. Sales last year were US$18.25 billion, 19 percent higher than in 2005. |
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