Autopistas del Sol S.A. (Ausol), together with the National Road Agency (Dirección Nacional de Vialidad), under the Transportation Ministry of Argentina, have signed a memorandum that formally initiates the process to extend its concession contract for an additional 10 years.

The SPV is owned by Abertis (31.59%), Salini Impregilo (19.82%), Natal Inversiones (14.12%), ACS (2.68%), and another local firm, Dycasa (1.75%), which has the support and experience of Dragados. The remaining 30.04% comprises freely floating shares.

Ausol is in charge of the construction, maintenance, administration and exploitation of the northern access to the city of Buenos Aires. 95-kilometers long, it is one of the main corridors of the country, which connects the city with the highly populated northern neighborhoods. It also has the concession of General Paz highway, a toll-free section of 24 km-road that surrounds the capital. Together, the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) was 86.799 vehicles in 2016.

This extension involves the recognition of the pending rebalancing and an additional USD$430 million investment plan to improve the current road network, which will be fully financed by future concession revenues, due to the extension of the current contract, which ends in 2020, until the end of 2030.

This is the first step of a process that requires other legal and governmental approvals. The closing of the renegotiation will settle previous compensation claims between the concessionaire, its shareholders and the granting authority.

As we reported in mid-June of this year, Abertis reached a similar agreement with the Argentine Government regarding another concession in the country, Grupo Concesionario del Oeste S.A., which also includes an investment plan of USD$250 million and an extension of the period of concession until the year 2030.