Royal returns from roads
Brisa, a concessionaire that runs more than 1,500 km of Portuguese roads, is now under new ownership. A group of investors from Switzerland, South Korea and the Netherlands have bought 81.1% of the infrastructure enterprise, valued at EUR 3 billion.
Money may not grow on trees, but some roads may indeed be paved with gold – at least if a strategy adopted by the pension funds APG (Netherlands) and NPS (South Korea) and the asset manager Swiss Life is anything to go by.
These firms formed a consortium that has bought an 81.1% stake in the Portuguese motorway operator Brisa. The infrastructure firm is thought to be worth around EUR 3 billion. This makes the move one of the largest recent foreign investments in the Portuguese infrastructure segment. Brisa operates and maintains around 1,500 km of the country’s road network, including important motorways such as the one linking Lisbon and Porto and routes to and from Spain. Brisa’s diverse activities include stakes in firms in Brazil, the USA and the Netherlands.
Strong base in Portugal
The new owners are in for the long haul. APG’s Jan-Willem Ruisbroek said that “Brisa operates a high-value road network in Portugal and makes an important contribution to the country’s development.” Brisa is present in 12 of Portugal’s 18 regions; it manages 43% of the nation’s toll roads. The transaction, due for completion in Q3, has yet to be given the official green light.
