Abertis has reached an agreement to acquire from CNP an additional stake of 5.1% in Holding d’Infraestructures de Transport (HIT), the company which controls 100% of Sanef. This transaction will imply a cash out for Abertis of €238 million (US$259 million). In this way, Abertis will reach, at the closing of the last agreements announced, up to 100% stake in its French subsidiary.

Since the beginning of the year, Abertis has reached several agreements in order to acquire non-controlled stakes in HIT. After the purchase of stakes from CDC and AXA, last March the Group announced an agreement to acquire a stake from Predica of between 15% and 17% in HIT; and last 21 April, an agreement to acquire an additional 5.1% from FFP Invest. 

In financial terms, and given that HIT is already fully consolidated in Abertis’ accounts, the main impact of the acquisition of this additional 5.1% stake will be on the net profit, which will increase by €15Mn in the 2017 results. Net debt in Abertis will rise by the final paid amount. 

In addition, this deal will increase the company’s average portfolio duration and will provide a greater dividend stream from France, contributing to offset other concessions expirations over the coming years.