MEXICO CITY--Mexican cement and building materials company Cemex
SAB (CX, CEMEX.MX) said Monday that an arbitration court has
ordered Austria's Strabag SE (SBAGY) to pay Cemex EUR30 million
($37.1 million) plus interest and other costs after the European
company pulled out of a 2008 agreement to buy Cemex assets in
Austria and Hungary.
Cemex, of Monterrrey, said in a filing with the Mexican stock
exchange that the International Arbitration Court of the
International Chamber of Commerce ruled on May 31 that Strabag's
termination of the agreement was invalid, and that the sides were
notified on June 1.
In July 2009, Strabag terminated an agreement to buy the assets
from Cemex for EUR310 million, adducing failure to obtain antitrust
clearance in Austria by the deadline. Cemex rejected Strabag's
arguments, and took the case to court.
Cemex said Strabag had been granted conditional approval by the
Austrian Cartel Court, although one of the conditions couldn't be
met because a plant that Strabag was told it would have to sell to
a third party had already been dismantled.
Cemex said Strabag ignored its recommendation that it make a
supplementary request to the Austrian Cartel Court, and instead
appealed the decision, later using the lack of antitrust clearance
as a reason for withdrawing from the agreement to buy the
assets.
It wasn't immediately clear if Strabag would seek further
appeals in the case. Strabag's offices in Vienna couldn't
immediately be reached for comment.
Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@dowjones.com