The ACS group consolidates itself at the forefront of the American highway SH288, which serves the city of Houston (Texas). The company is completing the negotiation to increase its participation from the current 21% to 66%.
The associated investment is about $900 million. The period of operation of this asset, in which ACS entered in February 2015, reaches 52 years.
The company avoids commenting on this operation on the other side of the Atlantic, but market sources assure that the signing of the transaction is about to take place. The company chaired by Florentino Pérez shares the capital with the fund InfraRed and the Israeli firm Shikun & Binui.
This investment in North America reaffirms the strategic interest in the United States, where it was made in 2006 with its first concession in the country. The focus of the Spanish company is on the operation of highways after the sale of the Industrial Services area to the French company Vinci.
The contract awarded in 2015 included the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a payment infrastructure attached to the SH-288, with the concessionaire iridium and the builder Dragados USA as representatives of ACS. The investment was made on a 16.5 kilometer route with two additional lanes in each direction on one of the most congested roads in Texas. ACS was at the forefront of the payment lane and the four lanes free of charging that already provided service in each direction of traffic.
The asset was financed with contributions from the State of Texas and a TIFIA loan from the Federal Government.
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