ACCIONA sells two concessions in Chile to Atlantia for 293m euros

The Company agrees to sell off its 50% stakes in the Vespucio South Motorway and the Central Coastal Road Network and  their operating company

The agreement also includes a commitment to pay ACCIONA a pending construction-project payment estimated at €11.8 million, to be settled when the deal is confirmed, which would take the total value of the transaction to €305 million.

ACCIONA has reached an agreement to sell off its stakes in Autopista Vespucio Sur (Vespucio South Motorway) and Red Vial Litoral Central (Central Coastal Road Network) to the Italian group Atlantia, for UF 9.3 million (UF = Unidades de Fomento, Chile's inflation-linked accounting unit), equivalent to 293 million euros. The operation affects 50% of the companies SC Autopista Vespucio, SC Litoral Central and Operación y Logística de Infraestructura.  

Autopista Vespucio Sur operates 24km of the Américo Vespucio ring road in the capital, Santiago de Chile, through a free-flow toll system and Red Vial Litoral Central operates 79km of highways along Chile's Región 5 coast.

The agreed price includes UF 8.9 million (281.5 million euros) in cash and subrogation of debt for UF 378,000 (11.9 million euros).

The agreement also includes a commitment to pay ACCIONA a pending construction-project payment from the country's Ministry of Public Works for an estimated UF 375,000 (11.8 million euros) that will be paid when the resolution is final and the Ministry makes payment to Autopista Vespucio Sur. This additional payment will be adjusted according to the final sentence passed on the legal claim. Consequently, the full amount of the sale and the claim payment would rise to UF 9.6 million (305 million euros).

The transaction is subject to certain administrative and financial authorizations relating to the transfer of the concession, as well as authorizations concerning questions of necessary competency.

Net financial debt at 31 December 2010 corresponding to 50% of the companies that are the object of the sale was 153 million euros and was accounted as available-for-sale assets.

This operation, in which ACCIONA has been advised by BBVA, is part of the concession assets rotation plan which envisages the sell-off of mature concession assets to boost new investment in this business, one of the Company's strategic areas. The Vespucio Sur and Red Vial Litoral Central highways came into operation between 2003 and 2005.

ACCIONA will continue to operate in the concessions business in Chile where it has a 40-year concession for the Ruta 160, a 91km highway at an advanced stage of construction in the southern region of Bio-Bio. The project foresees an investment of 200 million euros, the long-term financing of which was completed in December 2010.

Chile continues to be a strategic growth country for ACCIONA. The Company is currently looking into a range of transport and hospital infrastructure projects, as well as others areas such as water and renewable energy.