September 3, 2008

Venezuela willing to talk with Cemex

CARACAS, Venezuela

Venezuela, which last week nationalized cement plants owned by Cemex SAB, is willing to resume failed negotiations with the Mexican cement company, Venezuela’s vice president said.

“We want to carry out negotiations in an atmosphere of cordiality, but we’ll also do it in whatever arena might be necessary,” vice- president Ramon Carrizalez said after meeting with Mexico’s ambassador to Caracas, Jesus Mario Chacon.

There is still a “disposition to reach an agreement, on the part of the Venezuelan government and the company Cemex,” he said.

The Monterrey, Mexico-based company has repeatedly said it is open to further talks.

Venezuelan officials seized Cemex’s local facilities last week when a deadline for negotiating terms of the takeover expired. The move marks President Hugo Chavez’s latest step to have state control of key parts of Venezuela’s economy.

Cemex, the world’s third-largest cement maker, called the confiscation of its assets a “flagrant violation” of Venezuela’s constitution and its expropriation laws.

A statement from the company this week said Venezuela’s offer to pay US$650 million for a majority stake in its local operations “significantly undervalues its business in Venezuela.”

Two other cement companies have agreed to the nationalization of their own Venezuelan units. Paris-based Lafarge SA sold an 89 percent share of its local unit for US$267 million, while Zurich, Switzerland-based Holcim sold the government an 85-percent share for US$552 million.

Associated Press

Print | Email | Comment