Cemex SA, the world's third-largest cement producer, has won US regulatory approval for its hostile bid for Australia's Rinker Group Ltd, heightening speculation it may raise the $11.7 billion offer.

Cemex SA, the world's third-largest cement producer, has won US regulatory approval for its hostile bid for Australia's Rinker Group Ltd, heightening speculation it may raise the $11.7 billion offer.

Cemex's $13-a-share bid for Australia's biggest building materials company was rejected by Rinker's board in November. It was also rebuffed by Perpetual Investments, Rinker's biggest shareholder with a stake large enough to block the deal.

Winning regulatory approval in the US, where Rinker gets 80% of sales, paves the way for the Mexican company to press ahead with the deal. Investors are demanding a higher offer from Cemex after the US housing slump knocked Rinker's shares 16% from their high.

Rinker would be the largest acquisition by Monterrey-based Cemex, which paid $5.8 billion in cash and debt for the UK's RMC Group Plc in March 2005. It marks chief executive Lorenzo Zambrano's first attempt at a hostile bid since he began acquiring companies two decades ago.

The purchase would boost Cemex's annual sales to almost $24 billion from $18.2 billion last year and widen its lead in the US cement market. More than 60% of Rinker's sales of concrete, gravel, asphalt, concrete blocks and other building materials come from Florida, Arizona, Nevada and Texas.

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