The Colombian company has a 31% stake in Summit Materials in the United States, which will be acquired by Quikrete Holdings.
Summit Materials has signed an agreement to be acquired by Quikrete Holdings, a leader in the ready-to-use construction materials segment and one of the largest private corporations in the industry in the United States.
Cementos Argos holds a 31% stake in Summit Materials and is its largest shareholder. The cement company has committed to voting all of its common shares in favor of the transaction. The transaction is expected to become final in the first half of 2025.
The acquisition offer made by Quikrete is for US$ 52.5 per share, which represents a total company value of US$ 11.5 billion. This means that the sale of the approximately 55 million shares that Cementos Argos owns in Summit generates a cash value of approximately US$ 2.875 billion, equivalent to approximately 10,000 Colombian pesos per share.
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of Summit and Quikrete, and is subject to approval by Summit shareholders, regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions.
“Once the transaction is completed, the company’s Board of Directors will determine the use of the funds received, considering their full or partial deployment in the United States, including the construction materials industry, where the organization has demonstrated its ability to identify, develop and materialize value opportunities in that country,” the company explained.
Cementos Argos' business in the US
The company has had investments in the United States since December 2021, during which time it will have received around US$ 4.52 billion for the Summit platform. This value is represented by:
- US$445 million in extraordinary distributions from Argos USA to Cementos Argos SA between 2022 and 2023.
- US$1.2 billion associated with the cash obtained in the transaction with Summit.
- It will receive around US$2.875 billion from the sale of its shares in Summit to Quikrete.
The internal rate of return for Argos as an investor, from 2005 to date, amounts to 19.5% in dollars and 24.8% in pesos.
Argos began operating assets directly in the United States in 2005 and has been implementing a strategy to integrate and consolidate its cement and concrete businesses in the American market for almost 20 years.
These are some of the projects in which the company has participated in the North American country:
- Atlanta Falcons Mercedes Benz Stadium in Georgia.
- The Coca Cola Plant in Houston, Texas.
- Volcano Bay water park at Universal Studios in Orlando.
- Construction of operational centers for FedEx, Facebook, Amazon and Disney.
“This new step in the history of Cementos Argos confirms the power of the strategy of sowing, building, growing and increasing the value of exposure to the American market, and motivates and invites both Cementos Argos and Grupo Argos to continue looking for new business opportunities in that country, to continue generating value for its shareholders,” the company concludes.
