Colombia’s largest cement maker Cementos Argos SA said it secured a $480m loan with BNP Paribas SA and Citigroup Inc, the company said in a filing to the securities regulator Wednesday. 
 
The Medellin-based company said it used the proceeds for liability management purposes such as reducing the costs of its debt. 
 
The two banks offered to lend as much as $648m to Argos, the company said. 
 
During 2005, Argos bought two cement companies in the U.S. for a total amount of $257m, and in the first quarter of this year, it agreed to buy RMCC Group Inc. (RMCC.AJ), a U.S. ready-mixed concrete supplier, for $435m. 
 
Argos is the fifth-largest cement company in Latin America and controls 12 ports in the region and in the US, including four ports in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.