Ferrovial has completed on the brink of the turn of the year one of the key operations to transform its perimeter. It has just closed the sale of the British company Amey to two investment funds for 400 million pounds (455 million euros), thus completing its divestments in the service business and reducing its exposure to the United Kingdom, where it continues to have the 25% of the largest airport in the country, Heathrow.
The sale of Amey is partly a relief for Ferrovial, which has had to face several British authorities over the revision of service contracts. The biggest clash occurred with the city of Birmingham, with which an agreement had been signed to maintain infrastructure. The dispute was closed with an agreement in which Amey had to pay almost 250 million euros.
Once the approval of the authorities was obtained, Amey has been sold to a company controlled by the investment fund One Equity Partners, which makes the purchase together with another similar firm, Buckthorn Partners.
Discounting the debt, Ferrovial will enter 264 million pounds (301 million euros) net, of which 112 million pounds are in cash and 151 million, through a loan granted to buyers with an interest rate of 6% per year .
The Spanish company will take capital gains of 55 million euros that it will be able to compute within its accounts this year. It will also keep a small part of Amey's business, corresponding to waste treatment, which it will integrate into its Energy Infrastructure and Mobility division. This activity employs 557 workers.
As part of its Horizon 24 strategic plan, Ferrovial decided to carry out a strategic review of all its businesses and put the old Services division up for sale. This activity does not offer the margins or the projection of concessions, mobility, energy or water infrastructures. The company aims to increase its gross operating profit at an annual rate of 11% and has decided to focus on the most profitable part of the business.
The group has already sold the Environment and Infrastructure Services businesses in Spain and Portugal, as well as the Broadspectrum company, with operations in Australia and New Zealand. It has also gotten rid of urban cleaning contracts and the Oil business
In the United Kingdom, the star asset is now Heathrow, which before the pandemic became the largest airport in Europe. In the summer it was learned that the Spanish group had received approaches to probe its interest in selling its 25% stake in the aerodrome, but decided to reject the offer after analyzing it.
