French contractor Vinci has completed the all-cash acquisition of Spanish rival ACS’ energy business, Cobra IS, for €4.9bn.
Vinci will also take over most of ACS Industrial Services division’s contracting business, nine greenfield concession projects under development in Latin America and elsewhere, and ACS’ renewable energy project development platform.
The acquisition, first announed in April last year, will allow Vinci to expand into the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America, and move into the renewable energy concession market.
Vinci will also pay ACS €40m extra for each gigawatt of renewable energy developed by Cobra IS over the next eight-and-a-half years, up to a maximum of €600m.
Xavier Huillard, Vinci’s chairman, said: “With this strategic deal, we intend not only to build a global leader in engineering, works and services focused on the energy sector – in which Vinci already has extensive operations – but also, thanks to the long track record expertise that Cobra IS has developed, to accelerate our development in renewable energies, which will help us make a greater contribution to the environmental transition.”
Further Reading:
