>>> Abertis: Spanish government authorises Hochtief’s IPO; authorisation on Hisp

Abertis: Spanish government authorises Hochtief’s IPO; authorisation on Hispasat still pending
01 JAN 2018
The Spanish Ministry of Development released an announcement on 29 December informing it has authorised the transmission of Abertis [BME:ABE] shares in favour of Hochtief [FRA:HOT] to the effects of the regulation of contracts of public toll motorways concessions, in case IPO over the Spanish concessionaire company succeeds.
The application of authorisation to the Ministry of Development by Hochtief was submitted last 21 November, the announcement noted.
The authorisation is granted without prejudice to those other authorisations that have been additionally submitted and which can be eventually granted by the Spanish cabinet in compliance with current regulation. In fact, the Ministry of development is currently processing the application for authorisation submitted by Atlantia [BIT:ATL] last 21 December, the announcement added.
Separately, a news item by Expansion pointed that greenlight by the Spanish government is not complete, since the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda has not yet authorised ACS [BME:ACS] to take control over Abertis satellite Hispasat. According to sources from the Ministry of Economy such authorisation is not expected to arrive in the short-term, the item pointed.
Hochtief submitted application for authorisation to take control over Hispasat despite the fact that it intends to sell its stake in the Spanish satellite in case its bid for Abertis succeeds, something that rival bidder Atlantia would also be willing to do in case the Government requests it, Expansion added.