Camargo reportedly selling cement unit

It has been reported by local press that Camargo Correa SA, the Brazilian family-owned conglomerate that has exited some of its businesses over the past year, has put its InterCement SA unit up for sale.

According to a column in newspaper O Globo, Camargo Correa has received offers from Cemex and another unnamed Latin America-based cement producer. Globo columnist Lauro Jardim values the InterCement unit at around BRL20bn (US$6.47bn).

However, when contacted by Reuters, a Camargo spokesman said in an emailed statement that “the group is not pursuing any asset divestitures.” The spokesman added that its sale last June of a controlling stake in power holding company CPFL Energia SA was “the end of a process of repositioning the group’s asset portfolio.”

In a bid to reduce debt, the billionaire family that controls Camargo Correa has been disposing of business lines it no longer requires. The CPFL sale and a December 2015 sale of fashion brand Alpargatas SA raised about US$2.8bn for the group, Reuters noted.