P.T. Semen Gresik

On July 6, 1998, the Indonesian government announced that Cementos de Mexico (Cemex) was the preferred bidder for the largest government -owned cement company in Indonesia PT Semen Gresik. The first round of bidding had pitted Cemex against Holderbank of Switzerland and Heidelberger of Germany, two of the largest cement manufacturing firms in the world, And a mere seven weeks had passed since the resignation of President Suharto, a turning point for Indonesia's political and economic future. Cemex was informed on August 20 that their first round bid would have to be restructured, the primary change being a maximum of 14% of ownership passing from the government to Cemex. Then, as preferred bidders, Cemex would wait for the other round bidders to submit second bids. If their second bids were superior to Cemex's first bid, Cemex would have the right to match theirs if it wished. The vice president for finance of Cemex, Hector Midina, and his acquisition staff and consultants, now had only a few weeks to finalize their position.