Heidelbergcement Share Price Surged On Merger

Cementos Argos SA, cement and concrete producer from Colombo has agreed to acquire a cement plant along with eight terminals from HeidelbergCement AG for USD 660 million to push expansion in the United States.

This transaction includes a factory in Martinsburg of West Virginia, as well as eight related terminals, the German company announced in a statement Thursday. HeidelbergCement is divesting the assets to meet demands from U.S. antitrust regulators as part of its purchase of Italcementi.

Cemargos, the South American company, had signaled its aim for acquisitions. In the year 2014 it weighed a bid for about USD 1 billion in assets that Lafarge SA and Holcim limited put up for sale as a result of their merger, people who were familiar with the matter said at the time.

For HeidelbergCement, the deal marks the end of a divestment program linked to the USD 4.68 billion Italcementi transaction. The German company declared today that the proceeds exceeded its 1 billion-euro (USD 1.1 billion) target. Citigroup, Shearman & Sterling and Jones Day advised it on the sale.

Heidelberg share price has closed at Rs 136.20, up by 3.01 per cent. The share price made a 52 week high of Rs 144.90. The share price opened at Rs 132.60 from a previous closing of Rs 132.70.

JPMorgan is providing a bridge loan to cover the majority of the purchase and acted as an adviser to Argos, the Medellin-based company said in a statement. Argos plans to sell assets in the short term to fund the acquisition as well as to cover the loan.