Colombia's largest cement maker, Cementos Argos, has opened for offers 250m preferred shares, a bookbuilding process to end on 8 May 2013 to raise between (US$1.05bn-US$1.27bn).

Argos has set a range of between COP7700 and 9300 Colombian pesos ($4.20 to $5.07) per share for the offering, the company said in a statement published in local media.

Argos said it will issue the shares in two stages. The company will first offer 182 million preferred shares, and plans to do a second issuance at the same price range at a later date if the offer is oversubscribed.