Shareholders in Cement company Cimentos de Portugal SA (CPR.LB), or Cimpor, rejected a $5.5 billion takeover bid from Brazilian steel company Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID, CSNA3.BR), Cimpor said in a statement via the Lisbon stock exchange late Thursday.

The board said CSN's bid price "significantly undervalued the company." Furthermore, the board said CSN's offer was "opportunist, irrelevant and disturbed the company's operations."

CSN declined to immediately comment on Cimpor's position.

Immediately after Cimpor's rejection of CSN, Brazil's Estado news agency, citing unnamed sources, said Brazilian cement company Camargo Correa was interested in taking a 33.3% stake in Cimpor by proposing a merger.

Estado said Camargo would not comment on the report.

A merger would require the approval of two-thirds of Cimpor's shareholders.

Cimpor's main shareholders, Teixeira Duarte Engenharia e Construcoes SA (TDU.LB), Banco Comercial Portugues SA (BCP.LB) and Cinvest, supported rejecting the bid, according to local newspaper reports earlier Thursday.

CSN launched a takeover bid Dec. 18, 2009, at EUR5.75 a share for 100% of Cimpor.

Cimpor shares closed 1.1% higher, at EUR6.50 on the Lisbon stock market Thursday, before the company rejected CSN's offer.

CSN stocks closed 0.77% lower, at 56.36 Brazilian reals ($32.40), on Brazil's Bovespa stock exchange Thursday, while the IBovespa index fell 0.39%.

-By John Kolodziejski, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6086; John.Kolodziejski@dowjones.com
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