Spanish companies gear up for Rodoanels tough auction
Valor Econômico - 03/05/2008
OHL may not be the only Spanish company to fight for the West section of the Rodoanel the government of the State of São Paulo will auction off next Tuesday. Giants of the sector such as Abertis and Acciona are discussing the formation of pools with the Brazilians BR Vias and Triunfo Participações, respectively. The conversations, according to sources heard by Valor, have gained relevance the last weeks. For the Spanish companies, the local partners bring precious information on the operation of the local market. The foreigners, on their turn, can guarantee more power to the Brazilian companies at the moment of presenting the proposal - once national companies such as CCR and Cibe promise to be bolder in their bidding. The ceiling set for the collection of toll is R$ 3.00 (US$ 1.7). Besides, there is the payment of the grant set in R$ 2 billion (US$ 1.13 billion) and investments of more than R$ 800 million in improvements in the stretch demand a lot of cash. The interest of companies such as Ferrovial, Abertis, Acciona and the very OHL for the Brazilian market can be explained by the depletion of the Western Europe market, which forces the companies to seek business opportunities in other countries. Eastern Europe, the United States and Latin America are the new frontiers for these companies. Moreover, the road concessions may mean the way in for other infrastructure businesses, such as the administration of airports, construction and operation of high-speed rails and urban tolls. Ferrovial is the controlling company of BAA, which manages seven British airports, including the Heathrow's, in London. It is also the owner of Swissport, an airport-infrastructure company. Abertis and Acciona have businesses in heavy construction, logistics, environment and parking. Acciona has already mentioned its interest in investing on housing in Rio de Janeiro. These companies are already present in Chile and Argentina. Abertis controls the highway that connects Buenos Aires to the airport of Ezeiza. Cintra controls five Chilean highways. OHL has businesses all over Latin America and the United States.