Slaughter and May advised Cemex on the amendment of its facilities agreement and inclusion of sustainability metrics

Slaughter and May advised CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V., the global building materials company, on the amendment of, and extension of loans under, its facilities agreement dated 19 July 2017, as amended and restated from time to time (the “Facilities Agreement”).

As a result of the transaction CEMEX:

• extended approximately U.S.$1.1 billion of term loan maturities by 3 years (from 2022 to 2025) and approximately U.S.$1.1 billion of commitments under the revolving credit facility by 1 year (from 2022 to 2023).
• redenominated approximately U.S.$313 million of previous U.S. Dollar exposure under the term loans that are part of the Facilities Agreement to Mexican Pesos, as well as close to U.S.$82 million to Euros.
• concluded a reduced interest rate margin grid.
• improved its debt profile with the result that there are no relevant debt maturities through to July 2023.

Sustainability-linked: Aligned with CEMEX’s Climate Action strategy and the company’s ultimate vision of a carbon-neutral economy, as a result of the transaction US$3.2bn of commitments under the Facilities Agreement now incorporate five sustainability-linked metrics. These include reduction of net CO2 emissions per cementitious product and power consumption from green energy in cement.

The annual performance in respect to these five metrics may result in a total adjustment of the interest rate margin under these tranches of up to plus or minus 5 basis points.

Slaughter and May worked as a team with CEMEX’s in-house counsel in the UK, Mexico, Spain and France. Law firms advising CEMEX in other jurisdictions included GHR Rechtsanwälte AG (Switzerland), Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (New York and France) and Warendorf (the Netherlands).