Abertis, Brookfield cleared for Arteris takeover

About one year after Abertis and the Brookfield Brazil Motorways fund launched a bid to buy out Brazilian toll road concessionaire Arteris, the transaction has been cleared for closure. 

Last May, Abertis and Brookfield said they were willing to buy the 30.7 percent of the company they didn't already own through joint venture Participes en Brasil, following which Abertis would hold 51 percent and Brookfield the remainder. 

In a statement, Abertis said a tender offer to pay BRL10.15 ($2.87; €2.53) per share, adjusted for dividend payments, will come into effect on 17 May under conditions set out in a prospectus presented last year. 

Through the transaction, Arteris will be delisted from the Brazilian stock market within 45 days after the tender offer liquidation. The move has been approved by Comissao de Valores Mobiliarios, the country's stock market regulator. 

Arteris has 3,250 km of road concessions under management through nine concessionaires operating in the five Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina and Sao Paulo. 

Abertis and Brookfield had previously launched a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining 40 percent of the company formally known as OHL Brazil it didn't own in August 2013. At the time, the intent was for Brookfield Aylesbury to pick up 14.9 percent of the remaining stock and for Participes en Brasil to acquire 25.1 percent. 

The company's stock, after falling to R$7.48 in March last year from its all time high of R$21.54 per share in May 2013, has held steady in the mid to high R$9 range since May 2015, when the partners' intent to bid was first announced.