Road blocks

11 August 2010 By Alexander Smith

The Spanish construction group is raising around 2.4 bln euros by offloading part of its stake in the toll road operator to CVC. But it’s far from clear what the buyout group gets out of the deal, other than a foot in the door. A bigger shakeup of Abertis still looks likely.

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Spanish construction group ACS said on Aug. 11 it had reached a deal with private equity group CVC Capital Partners to reduce its stake in leveraged motorway operator Abertis.

ACS is forming two joint venture vehicles with CVC, which will buy ACS's 25.8 percent stake in Abertis for 15 euros a share. This represents a 13 percent premium over the Abertis's closing price on Aug 10, and values ACS's stake at nearly 2.9 billion euros.

Following the deal, ACS will have an indirect stake of 10.28 percent in Abertis, while CVC will own 15.55 percent.

The deal follows an attempt in July by Criteria, the investment arm of Spanish savings bank La Caixa, which owns 28 percent of Abertis, to launch a leveraged buyout for the toll road group alongside ACS and CVC.

Criteria and ACS have long been rumoured to be seeking ways to extract value from their stakes in Abertis, which runs major Spanish toll highways, along with parking garages and airport concessions.

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