BBVA, Sole Financial Advisor to Copasa and Espina in the sale of Circuito Vial 3 in Uruguay

BBVA has acted as financial advisor to Copasa and Espina in the sale of a 100% stake in Circuito Vial 3 (the concessionaire and operator of “Proyecto Circuito Vial 3: Ruta nº 14, Bypass Sarandí del Yi y Conexión Ruta 14-Ruta 3”) and its operating company (Hareson investments) to a consortium formed by abrdn and Bestinver for an EV of 213 million euro.

Circuito Vial 3 is a 292 km constructed road infrastructure, part of the Ruta 14 national road, covering the departments of Soriano, Flores, Durazno and Florida with 16 years of remaining concession life. The road is a key national infrastructure asset and largest road concession granted by the Government of Uruguay under the PPP scheme.

The concessionaire receives income through availability payments paid directly by the MTOP in exchange for achieving and maintaining the quality of service associated with the values of the technical indicators established throughout the life of the contract. This is a landmark deal for Copasa and Espina and with this transaction, the company continues to be a leading constructor and operator of public infrastructures and concessions.

Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, coupled with highly volatile markets, BBVA was able to successfully advise Copasa and Espina in this complex cross-border deal. With this transaction, BBVA strengthens its position as the M&A advisor leader in Infrastructure and TMT transactions, having advised on some of the most relevant transactions in the sector so far. BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking's unique M&A cross-border execution capabilities have been instrumental in enabling the successful completion of this complex transaction.