Cemex successfully closes new US$4.05bn bank loan

Cemex announced today that it has entered into a new facilities agreement for a total amount of US$4.05bn with 20 institutions.

The 2017 Credit Agreement will be used to refinance the US$3.68bn facilities agreement dated 29 September 2014 (2014 Credit Agreement), and the remaining amount will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include debt repayment. Cemex expects to fully cancel both drawn and undrawn amounts under the 2014 Credit Agreement by 25 July 2017.

The main terms and conditions of the 2017 Credit Agreement include:
• a total weighted average life of 4.3 years with a final maturity on July 2022
• approximately the equivalent of US$2.92bn of commitments under term loan tranches, including US$1.61bn, EUR741m and GBP344m, amortising in five equal semi-annual payments, beginning on July 2020
• approximately US$1.13bn of commitments under a revolving credit facility with a five-year bullet maturity
• all tranches under the 2017 Credit Agreement have substantially the same terms, including an applicable margin over the benchmark interest rate of between 125 to 350 basis points, depending on Cemex’s consolidated debt leverage ratio; when such ratio is below 4.5x, the applicable margin ranges between 50 and 125 basis points lower than it would have been under the 2014 Credit Agreement; and
• same guarantors and security package as the 2014 Credit Agreement and other senior secured debt obligations of Cemex.

"We are very pleased with this refinancing, which is allowing us to extend our debt maturity profile and reduce our cost of debt, while providing adequate flexibility to support our strategy going forward,” said José Antonio González, Cemex’s CFO. “We are thankful for the support of both existing and new institutions. Our improved credit profile facilitated a significant oversubscription which resulted in an increased size of the facility and a reduction in the final participation amount of the Joint Bookrunners."