Philippine conglomerate DMCI Holdings DMC.PS will acquire cement maker Cemex Holdings Philippines CHP.PS for $305.6 million after months of negotiations, the companies said on Thursday.
The deal is part of Cemex Asia’s wider divestment of its Philippine operations, including full equity in Cemex Asian South East Corporation and subsidiaries APO Cement and Solid Cement, to DACON, DMCI and Semirara Mining & Power <SCC.PS> for $660 million, minus debt.
DMCI said it will acquire all of Cemex Asia B.V.’s shares in Cemex Asian South East Corp, which owns nearly 90% of Cemex Philippines, the country’s fourth-largest cement manufacturer.
“Cement manufacturing will be a good, strategic addition to our business portfolio,” DMCI Chairman Isidro Consunji said in a statement. “We can leverage our group’s expertise and create new revenue streams from this acquisition.”
Shares in Cemex Philippines rose 16% on Thursday to give it a market capitalization of 22.12 billion pesos ($382.9 million) before the deal was announced after the market close, while DMCI rose 2.4%.
Cemex Asia expects to finalize the divestment before the end of the year.
DMCI, which has a market cap of $2.45 billion Philippine pesos, operates in construction, real estate, coal mining, power generation and water utility.
Cemex Philippines shares have fallen to just a fifth of their 2016 listing price, after the country’s cement manufacturers suffered from excess domestic capacity and a flood of cheap imports. Competitors Holcim Philippines and Eagle Cement delisted in 2023.
($1 = 57.77 Philippine pesos)
— Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Editing by Varun H K, Kirsten Donovan