Mexico's Cemex, one of the world's biggest cement companies, announced Thursday that it will sell its operations in Bangladesh and Thailand to a Thai firm for $53 million.

The proceeds of the sale to Siam City Cement Public Company Limited will be mainly used to reduce debt and for general corporate purposes, Cemex said in a statement.

Cemex, which employs 43,000 people in more than 50 countries, expects to finalize the divestiture in the second quarter.

The Mexican company, which was badly hit by the 2008 real estate crisis in the United States, returned to profit for the first time in six years in 2015, reporting net income of $75 million.