Mexican cement giant Cemex announced in November that it has signed a letter of intent with Votorantim Cimentos LTDA for the sale of certain Cemex assets in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Brazil's top cement producer and main shareholder of Canada's St. Marys Cement and Florida's Suwannee American Cement, Votorantim presented an offer for Cemex's plants in Charlevoix, Mich., and Dixon, Ill. (the former Dixon-Marquette facility), as well as other assets in the region. Cemex began evaluating alternatives to divest these assets at the beginning of 2004, according to the company, after reviewing its strategic position in the United States. The transaction, worth about $400 million and encompassing close to 2 million metric tons' capacity, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2005. The proceeds will be used to either pay down debt or reduce the level of indebtedness required for Cemex's impending RMC Group acquisition, a deal that recently received the overwhelming support of RMC shareholders. Total production capacity of both Cemex plants is close to 2 million metric tpy, representing about 10% of the operating cash flow generation of Cemex's U.S. business.

Just months after the merger between Italy's Buzzi Unicem S.p.A. and Germany's Dyckerhoff, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Buzzi announced it is selling its 50% share of Glens Falls Lehigh Cement Co. for an undisclosed amount to co-owner Lehigh Cement Co. The partnership was established in 1999 to manage a cement plant in Glens Falls, N.Y., a slag grinding facility in Greene County, N.Y., an import terminal in Providence, R.I., and terminals in Wilmington, Mass. and near Syracuse, N.Y. The company currently provides cement and ground slag to customers throughout upstate New York and New England.