Slaughter and May advised CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (CEMEX), the global building materials company, on a new US$1.35 billion credit agreement and the launch of CEMEX’s associated consent process under their existing syndicated facilities agreement.

The transaction comprised:

(i) a new club loan term and revolving facilities credit agreement entered into with nine of the main lending banks from the existing facility, in an amount of US$1.35 billion (subject to increase by the accession of accordion lenders), to be used initially to pre-pay amounts outstanding under the existing facility

(ii) the launch of a consent process to align certain terms of the existing facility with the more commercially advantageous terms achieved by CEMEX under the new credit agreement and the amendment of the terms of the intercreditor agreement to reflect recent changes to Mexican law

The terms of the new credit agreement represent an improvement on the terms of the existing facility and provide CEMEX with greater operational and financial flexibility. The terms reflect the better credit profile achieved by CEMEX in the last years and the entry into the new club loan represents CEMEX’s return to the syndicated bank market under conventional conditions.

Slaughter and May worked as a team with CEMEX’s in-house counsel in both Mexico and Spain. As with previous transactions in 2009 and 2012, law firms advising CEMEX in other jurisdictions included Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (New York and France), GHR Rechtsanwälte AG (Switzerland), Matheson (Ireland) and Warendorf (the Netherlands).

CONTACTS

Financing: Robert Byk (partner), Andrew Williams (associate), Chris Parrott (associate), Hiba Siddique (associate), Colm Kinsella (trainee)