Bio

Roger Saldaña Madero joined Cemex in 2000 and served in different positions in the legal department of the company. On March 30, 2017, he was appointed Cemex’s general counsel and secretary of the board and the committees to such board. Prior to joining Cemex, he served as legal counsel at Cydsa, from 1995 to 2000 in the city of Monterrey, Mexico, was a foreign associate in the law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, in New York, USA from 1994 until 1995, previously was chief of the double taxation department in Mexico’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit in Mexico City, Mexico.

Since 2022, Mr. Saldaña Madero has actively participated in the Global Compact Group of the United Nations Organization focused on corporate governance and its evolution. He also participated as a speaker in September 2023 in the United Nations Global Compact Leader Summit, held in New York City. Additionally, he was invited by the Global Compact Group as an observer to the tenth working session of participating states of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), of which Mexico is a signatory state.

What are the most significant private equity deals that you or your team have recently been involved in within the Latin American market?

In Cemex we are constantly looking into equity opportunities in the Latin America region. In 2023, Cemex completed the tender offer of the shares of its Spanish subsidiary Cemex Latam Holding (CLH), a company listed in the Colombian Stock Market. Subsequently the listing of the CLH was cancelled.

In 2022, Cemex divested its operations in Costa Rica and El Salvador in a private equity deal with Grupo Progreso and entered a private equity deal with Advent International to sell 65% of Cemex participation in Neoris, an IT company with operations though Latin America, the United States and Europe.

In Mexico in 2021 Cemex completed the acquisition of Broquers Ambiental, a company that holds title to a concession granted by the Municipality of Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico for the operation of a solid waste treatment plant in the Municipality of Queretaro from 2016 until 2036.

Latin American markets vary widely in terms of economic stability and political dynamics. How do you factor these considerations into your legal strategies and recommendations for private equity clients?

Every country in Latin America, including the Caribbean, has its own dynamics, regulations, risks and opportunities, you and your team need to have the capacity to adapt to the local regulations and practices. Local legal advice is extremely important if you want to be successful in Latin America.

What do you find most rewarding and challenging about working as an in-house lawyer specialising in private equity within the Latin American market?

Learning to navigate in different legal systems and dealing with different requirements is challenging and rewarding at the same time. Regulations and practices in English speaking countries in the Caribbean with common law background differ so much from those in countries that follow civil law principles. Every country has its own environment and ESG requirements that you need to consider every time that you are doing a deal.