Hochtief Launches EUR17.10 Billion Counterbid for Spain's Abertis
October 18 2017 - 10:36AM
Dow Jones News
By Nathan Allen
Hochtief AG (HOT.XE) on Wednesday said that it has offered 17.10
billion euros ($20.12 billion) for toll-road operator Abertis
Infraestructuras SA (ABE.MC), outbidding a previous offer from
Italy's Atlantia SpA (ATL.MI).
The German construction company, which is controlled by Spain's
Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA (ACS.MC), has offered
Abertis shareholders the option of cash and new shares. Existing
Abertis shareholders can take a cash payout of EUR18.76 per share,
or 0.1281 of a new share in Hochtief, or a combination of the
two.
The offer rivals a EUR16.50 per share bid submitted by Italian
highway operator Atlantia in May. Atlantia's bid received approval
from the Spanish market regulator and the European Commission
earlier this month.
Abertis shares were trading at EUR17.70 until they were
suspended by the Spanish market regulator this afternoon. Abertis
shares resumed trading at 1400 GMT.
The Hochtief offer is backed by a consortium of international
banks led by JPMorgan Chase & Co.(JPM).
With a market capitalization of EUR9.49 billion, Hochtief is
considerably smaller than Abertis, which has a market
capitalization of EUR16.88 billion, and far smaller than Atlantia,
which is valued at EUR22.49 billion.
Last week British activist hedge fund TCI Fund Management
increased its stake in Abertis to around 2.7% and said it strongly
supports Atlantia's bid. Spanish conglomerate Grupo Villar Mir SAU,
which owns around 1.7% of Abertis, has also backed Atlantia's
bid.
However, several Spanish media outlets have reported that Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy is reluctant to let Abertis fall out of
Spanish control and favors a local buyer.
Actividades de Construccion y Servicios was formed in 1997
through the merger of two smaller companies and is one of Spain's
largest construction firms with operations in more than 50
countries and turnover of EUR31.98 billion in 2016.
Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 18, 2017 10:21 ET (14:21 GMT)
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