Mota-Engil takes majority share in Lusoponte concession

 In Companies, Infrastructure, News

The Portuguese-Chinese international construction giant Mota-Engil has taken a majority shareholding in the concession company that runs Lisbon’s iconic April 25th and Vasco da Gama bridges.

It has done this with the exit of the Italian motorways company Atlantia (ex-Autostrade) leaving Mota-Engil with a 50.7% share of Lusoponte which runs the tolls on the bridges that lead in and out of the Portuguese capital, linking it to a motorway that goes to the Alentejo and Algarve regions of the country.
The only other major concession holder is the French company Vinci (40.3%) which also operates the management of Portugal’s ANA airports.
Lusoponte also will run the Vasco da Gama bridge to 2030 according to Jornal Económico which spoke to sources linked to the deal.
Atlantia announced several months ago its intention to sell its share of around 17% of the Lusoponte concession.
There had been a lot of interest, including from the Japanese group Marubeni, but Atlantia had to give right of preference to the remaining Lusoponte shareholders.
In this case both Mota-Engil and Vinci chose to exercise their rights of preference and Atlantia had to obey that right, receiving around €55 million for the shareholding transfer.
The sale has yet to receive the seal of approval from the various regulators, including the Portuguese Competition Authority.