A consortium of Spanish toll-road manager Abertis Infraestructuras SA and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte. Ltd. agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Mexican toll-road operator Red de Carreteras de Occidente SAB de CV, or RCO.
An affiliate of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s GS Infrastructure Partners I LP is selling the shareholding, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Under the deal, Abertis will acquire a 50.1% stake in RCO for about €1.5 billion, with GIC buying the other 19.9%. Abertis will use available cash and existing committed bank facilities to fund the transaction.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020, after the launch of a tender offer for the remaining 30% stake in RCO that is owned by Mexican investors and pension fund managers. The Abertis/GIC consortium may take up to an additional 6% stake following the tender offer.
The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
Abertis, a unit of Italian holding company Atlantia SpA, is seeking to focus on operating toll roads. The company, through its subsidiary Abertis Telecom Satélites SA, recently completed the sale of its 89.7% stake in satellite operator Hispasat SA to Red Eléctrica Corporación SA for €933 million.
