Argos acquires Puerto Rico operations

Argos acquired a stake of 60 per cent in Wetvan Overseas, a company that controls a terminal for receiving, storing, selling and distributing cement in Puerto Rico, for an amount of more than US$18m. The remaining 40 per cent belongs to Grupo Vicini, a renowned Dominican business group that has investments across the Caribbean and Central America.
 
Thanks to this transaction, Argos will see its production capacity rise by 250,000tpa, thus ensuring a local market share of about 15 per cent in Puerto Rico. It also strategically fits in with the company’s latest acquisitions and existing operations, by including new markets in what the organisation has defined as its strategic region and by creating significant synergies.
 
“With this transaction, we are entering a new market that is closely tied to the US economy, that currently consumes close to 650,000t of cement per year and whose growth perspectives are being driven by the latent recovery and the new programs aimed at stimulating investment in Puerto Rico. The acquisition strengthens our position as leader in the region,” Jorge Mario Velásquez, Argos’ CEO, explains.
 
With this new operation, Argos, besides consolidating its leadership in the Caribbean region, continues to strengthen its expansion strategy by increasing its presence in the American continent, in which it now has operations in Antigua, Colombia, Curacao, Dominica, the United States, Haiti, Honduras, French Guiana, Panama, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Saint Martin, Saint Thomas and Suriname.