Camargo Correa offers $3.32 bn for cement maker Cimentos de Portugal

Camargo Correa SA, Brazil's second-largest construction company, yesterday offered to pay €2.48 billion ($3.32 billion) for the shares it does not already own in Portuguese cement maker Cimentos de Portugal SGPS SA.

Camargo Correa has made the €5.50 a share offer for cement maker Cimpor through its Austria-based subsidiary Intercement, the Vienna-based unit said in a filing with the Portuguese securities regulator.

The offer is a 10-per cent premium to Cimpor's closing share price of €5 in Lisbon on 30 March.

Brazil's three construction giants have since the past two years been vying to take control of Cimpor, in order to strengthen their position in the fast-growing domestic market.

In January 2010, Camargo Correa increased its stake in Cimpor to 33 per cent by acquiring an additional 22.17-per cent from Portuguese construction major Teixeira Duarte for approximately €968 million ($1.33 billion). (See: Battle for CIMPOR: Camargo acquires Teixeira Duarte's 22-per cent stake for 1.33 billion)

Camargo Correa made the move a week after its rival Votorantim Cimentos SA, the country's largest cement producer and a member of the Votorantim Group, acquired a 17.28-per cent stake in Cimpor, held by France's Lafarge SA, the world leader in building materials.