Spain’s Stock Market Watchdog (CNMV) has finally authorised the bid from Hochtief, a subsidiary of ACS, for Abertis. The construction firm is offering 18.6 billion euros for the Spanish concessionaire, with a cash payment of 18,36 euros per share. The CNMV has given its green light after the news of the talks between ACS and Atlantia aimed at reaching an agreement to put an end to the “bidding war”.
The offer also consists of a share exchange of up to a maximum of 24.268.685 new Hochtief shares for 193.530.179 shares of Abertis (19.54% of its capital), equivalent to 0,13 shares for every one share of the concessionary.
The CNMV understands that the offer fits in with the terms of the current regulations and considers sufficient the content of the explanatory brochure presented after the latest information incorporated as of March 8.
This news is hardly having any impact on the share price of the companies involved. ACS is up about 0.3% on Monday, Hochtief 0.4%, Abertis 0.1% and Atlantia is down 0.2%. The lack of sharper movements in the share price of these protagonists could be due to the talks announced by ACS and Atlantia last Thursday. The object of these talks would be to create a joint venture via which the two firms would implement taking control of Abertis. In this way, the Spanish concessionary would remain intact and keep its headquarters in Spain.
