Sacyr has decided to carry out a separate sale process of its services subsidiary Valoriza, awarded contracts such as the one for garbage and green areas in the city of Barcelona.
The company, which considers this operation strategic within its plan to reduce corporate debt to zero, has decided to separate Valoriza into two units, Facility or maintenance and, secondly, Environmental Services. Of the first, it will sell up to 100% and of the second, up to 49%.
For the divestment, Sacyr has hired Santander and Nomura, who are surveying the market in search of an investor interested in assets that provide recurring income. Spanish investment funds such as Portobello fit within the buyer profile.
Valoriza has a portfolio at record levels, for an amount close to 3,500 million euros. The Facilities unit had a turnover of 359 million euros in 2021, compared to 508 million for environmental services.
Most of the contracts are in Spain and, of them, one of the most recent and emblematic, for more than 400 million euros, is the one for garbage and green areas in various areas of Barcelona, where Sacyr had not managed to acquire strong so far.
Company sources indicate that the Barcelona contract corresponds to the Environmental Services unit, so that Sacyr will continue to have 51% of the concession.
The Barcelona contract was awarded in 2021 and work began in 2022. It serves an area of the city where 350,000 people live and is valid for eight years, extendable for another two.
Sacyr last year announced a plan to sell 49% of both Valoriza and its water business. If in the first case the objective is to reduce debt, in the second it aspires to attract resources to launch into projects. For the water business, it has hired Société Générale, which is surveying large international infrastructure funds.
Sacyr's intention is to advance the fulfillment of the objectives by two years, until 2023, with special emphasis on reducing debt to zero.
Last year, the group got rid of its historical stake in Repsol, which allowed it to reduce debt by 563 million, without having completely broken the relationship with the oil company, since the president of the company, Manuel Manrique, continues as a director, albeit as an outsider.
