InterCement assets in Brazil and Argentina are on other players' radar

According to Valor, InterCement assets are being valued by local and global players. The operations of Loma Negra, Argentina, are being looked at by CEMEX, Pacasmayo and Argos. Loma Negra has nine plants and 45 per cent of the market.  

According to Valor, the Brazilian operation could raise the interest of Buzzi, Vicat, Votorantim, CSN, Titan and Mizu. However, no official comment has been made from the parties in the article. In Brazil InterCement has a total production capacity of 12Mta and usually produces ~9Mt with 6 of the 15 plants currently not in operation. 

InterCement has a cash position of U$183m and gross debt of U$1.7bn maturing by 2027 (2023 - U$189m; 2024 - U$906m; 2025 - U$253m; 2026 - U$238m; 2027- U$124m). The company previously reported that it had closed an agreement with Huaxin Cement Co Ltd for the sale of its businesses in Africa. The agreement was set with an enterprise value (EV) of US$265m with 5x EV/EBITDA FY22, or U$44/t (at full capacity, the last five year utilisation was around ~43 per cent. The sale is part of the company's strategy of focussing on its core business, which already had the sale of its Egypt operation for U$40m in January 2023.