Abertis Shareholders Approve Hispasat Stake Sale
March 13 2018 - 11:35AM
Dow Jones News
By Nathan Allen
Shareholders in Abertis Infraestructuras SA (ABE.MC) have voted
in favor of the company selling its 57% stake in Hispasat to
Spain's national grid operator Red Electrica Corp. SA (REE.MC),
potentially removing a major hurdle in the bidding war for the
highway operator.
The sale is contingent on Abertis receiving a binding offer in
excess of 656 million euros ($808.3 million) for the stake. Red
Electrica Corp. has previously expressed an interest but hasn't
submitted a binding offer.
Abertis shareholders also voted to pass to Red Electrica an
obligation to buy a further stake in Hispasat from Eutelsat
Communications (ETL.FR). Abertis had agreed in May 2017 to buy a
34% stake in Hispasat from the French communications provider, but
the deal has yet to receive government approval.
Abertis's two suitors--Actividades de Construccion y Servicios
SA (ACS.MC) and Atlantia SpA (ATL.MI)--have similarly struggled to
gain government approval for their bids, partly because Hispasat is
considered strategic national infrastructure, making any sale
subject to a separate review by the Ministry of Energy.
Shareholders in Abertis also approved a EUR0.40 per share
dividend, which will trigger a EUR0.40 per share reduction in the
value of ACS's offer, which it submitted via its German subsidiary
Hochtief AG (HOT.XE) in October.
The offer, which was approved by Spain's market regulator
Monday, is now valued at EUR18.36 per share, compared with its
initial value of EUR18.76 a share.
Abertis has 30 days from the date of approval to respond to the
bid, during which time ACS or Atlantia can improve their respective
offers.
Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 13, 2018 11:20 ET (15:20 GMT)
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