OHL sells a 7% stake in Abertis to strengthen its concessions business

The OHL Group has sold a 7% stake in Abertis- 69,326,692 shares- through accelerated placement exclusively addressed to institutional investors, at a price of 11.75 euros/share. The transaction is expected to be settled next 4 July. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and UBS have acted as joint bookrunners. 

The investor community has enthusiastically welcomed the transaction, registering a demand level of 4,8x.

The funds generated by the transaction will be used to strengthen the Concessions division, OHL’s Group’s engine for growth, as follows:

• For a partial early repayment of 421.1 million euros, without recourse, of the facility secured by Abertis, representing the 7% stake sold.
• For a total early repayment of 3,498 million Mexican Pesos- approximately 166.9 million euros- of the non-recourse facility secured with a 29.96% stake in OHL México.
• To endow OHL Concesiones with additional funds, of approximately 212.4 million euros, to finance its capital commitments in new concessions awarded in Chile, Colombia and Peru.

Following this transaction, OHL has achieved a huge de-leveraging in the Concessions division. It has reduced to half the non-recourse corporate debt of OHL Concesiones and has removed practically the entire risk of triggers through a sharp decrease- 69%- of existing non-recourse financing, secured with listed shares in Abertis and OHL México. Additionally, OHL has partly generated high capital gains whilst also remaining as the reference shareholder, with a relevant stake of 6.93%.

This back-up to the Concessions division, which will be able to take on new investment projects with the maximum guarantees, will clearly encourage progress in the OHL Group as a whole.