Fitch Ratings has upgraded Trinidad Cement (TCL) after Cemex increased its shareholding in the company, the ratings agency said in a recent press release. TCL’s local and foreign currency Issuer Default Ratings were raised from B- to B+.
According to the ratings agency, a “tighter relationship with Cemex should improve TCL’s market position and financing options.”
Cemex recently increased its holding in TCL from 39.5% to around 70%, after its takeover bid for the company was approved by the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Finance. Its share may yet grow up to 74.9%, as the offer remains open to Jamaican shareholders un 7 February.
TCL is a major producer of cement in the Caribbean, operating eight companies in Trinidad, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Anguilla. It has total capacity across three cement plants of 2.4 million tpy.
Another ratings increase in the near term was “unlikely”, according to Fitch, although further tightening of the company’s relationship with Cemex “could be considered positive.”
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/01022017/fitch-upgrades-trinidad-cement/