Eiffage, Macquarie buy French motorway stake for €130m

The deal, which will effectively give the pair 96% of France’s A41 concessionaire, sees the two firms directly own 46.1% of the operating company.

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French developer Eiffage and a Macquarie Group subsidiary have agreed a €130 million deal to buy 46.1 percent of France’s A41 concessionaire ADELAC.

The pair’s investment came after AREA, which is 99 percent owned by Eiffage and Macquarie’s subsidiary APRR, the fourth-largest motorway group in Europe, bought the stake in ADELAC from several subsidiaries of French conglomerate Bouygues for €130 million. AREA said it had exercised a first refusal right.

Immediately following the deal, Eiffage and Macquarie Autoroutes de France 2 purchased the stake from AREA at the same price. Eiffage described the deal as “part of an internal restructuring of this holding”. Neither Eiffage nor Macquarie could be reached for further comment.

Macquarie said the deal would require no funding contribution from its toll road developer Macquarie Atlas Roads and that financial close for the deal was expected imminently.

The deal means Eiffage and Macquarie will now either directly or indirectly own 96 percent of ADELAC, whose concession of the A41 ends in 2060. French engineering firm Setec and bank Groupe BPCE each hold a two percent stake.

Shortly before the acquisition, Eiffage’s credit rating was upgraded by Standard & Poor’s from BBB+ stable to A- stable.

The deal between AREA and ADELAC was hinted at in September after Macquarie completed the A$282 million ($214 million; €192 million) sale of its stake in MQA. “There is a prospect that AREA may be entitled to acquire further interests in ADELAC,” MQA said at the time.