Camargo completes Cimpor takeover, Portugal

Brazilian conglomerate Camargo Correa has completed its takeover of Cimpor, now controlling 94.8 per cent of the Portuguese producer, Cimpor said in a statement on the CMVM market regulator's website.

The success of the move was largely expected by analysts who will now look at the terms in which the company's assets will be split between Camargo and Votorantim. The deal includes an asset swap with Brazil-based Votorantim, Cimpor's second largest shareholder.

Camargo will integrate its South American and Angolan cement operations into Cimpor. Votorantim will then have the opportunity to buy Cimpor's operations in China, India, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Peru and part of its Spanish business at a set price defined by independent auditing companies.

Camargo, which was already the largest single shareholder in Cimpor with a 33 per cent stake, launched a EUR2.5bn bid for the rest of the company in March.

Portugal's state-owned bank CGD, investor Manuel Fino and Millennium BCP's pension fund all accepted Camargo's EUR5.5/share offer

The Portuguese government has said a Cimpor deal will help CGD deleverage and defended Camargo's bid from suggestions it was against national interests. Cimpor has been one of Portugal's most succesfull and internationally diversified companies.