AEV taps $400M bridge loan for cement foray

CONGLOMERATE Aboitiz Equity Ventures has tapped a $400 million bridge loan from the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi to fund its foray into the cement business.

The proceeds will be used to partially finance AEV’s investment in holding companies that were set up for the purpose of acquiring various Philippine assets and businesses of LaFarge SA, including the cement production and other cement-related businesses and services, AEV told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.

AEV has teamed up with UK-listed CRH plc acquire a majority stake in the Philippine cement operations of Lafarge, a move seen to complement its foray into big-ticket infrastructure-building.

Earlier this month, LaFarge finalized the deal to sell the its Philippine unit LaFarge Republic Inc. (LRI) to the CRH-AEV consortium at a price consideration of P59.7 billion for 100 percent of the cement firm. AEV, for its part, earlier committed to invest up to P24 billion to this cement venture.

CRH is a global leader in the manufacture and supply of a diverse range of building materials and products for the modern built environment. With operations in 34 countries worldwide, CRH is the largest building materials company in North America, a regional leader in Europe and has strategic positions in Asia. Its shares are listed on the London and Dublin stock exchanges as well as on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depository shares.

For its part, AEV is getting into infrastructure as the fifth leg of its core businesses after power, banking, food and property development.

“Venturing into infrastructure meets our growth criteria. We are very optimistic of the potential gains this new core business will bring to the Group amid the huge demand for infrastructure in the Philippines,” AEV president Erramon Aboitiz earlier said.