MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The ACS Group has reached an agreement with Clal Insurance through its subsidiary Iridium for the acquisition of an additional 12.11% of capital in the SH-288 toll highway concession, in Houston (United States), for approximately 250 million of euros.
With this operation, ACS once again increases its participation after the purchase on August 31, going on to hold 78.38% of the capital invested in the project, as reported this Monday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). .
The closing of the operation is still subject to obtaining the pertinent administrative approvals and compliance with the conditions precedent of this type of agreement, as well as the closing of the previous operation of sale of 44.65% to InfraRed Capital Partners, Northleaf Capital Partners and Star America.
The concession is part of a 52-year public-private partnership contract, awarded in 2015 by the Texas Department of Transportation to the consortium led by Iridium, a consortium in which the construction companies of Grupo ACS Dragados USA and Pulice also participated. Construction.
This contract includes the financing, design, construction and operation of four new toll lanes in the median of the corridor and its accesses, the rehabilitation and improvement of the roads and links of the existing highway, and access to the hospital complex known as Texas Medical Center.
This is one of the most important infrastructure works undertaken in the Houston metropolitan area, which, after opening to traffic in 2020, contributes significantly to alleviating congestion problems in one of its most populated areas.
On average, the corridor is traveled daily by more than 160,000 vehicles, of which approximately 14,000 choose to use the new toll lanes.
Iridium leads the operation and maintenance tasks of the highway section, including the management of the new lanes through the application of a toll rate that will vary depending on the level of congestion.
With this operation, the ACS Group strengthens its position as a reference shareholder of the SH-288 toll road, from which it consolidates its leadership in the infrastructure market in the United States, and from which it advances its expansion strategy in the North American market concessions.
Currently, Iridium has six public-private partnership contracts in the United States, with a management value of more than 6,000 million euros.
Likewise, the ACS Group responds to the commitment to continue expanding the concession business and to its commitment to the North American market, in which the group accumulates more than 15 transport infrastructure assets with a management value of more than 20,000 million euros.
