Madrid: Qatar Investment Authority sold its 10 per cent stake in Hochtief AG for about €540 million ($615 million; Dh2.25 billion), clearing the path for majority shareholder Actividades de Construccion & Servicios SA to consolidate the German builder into its operations.
The sovereign wealth fund disposed of 7 million shares at a price equal to €77 each, QIA said in a statement late on Monday. Madrid-based ACS bought about 4 million of the shares, boosting its holding in Hochtief to 66.5 per cent, it said in a separate statement on Tuesday.
ACS has been strengthening its ownership of Essen-based Hochtief through a series of buy-backs, four years after it first acquired a controlling stake. By purchasing shares in itself and then cancelling them, Hochtief has enabled ACS to raise its stake gradually. Following a €256 million programme completed in 2014, Hochtief is now midway through a second buy-back of as much as 10 per cent of the total share capital that it aims to complete by the end of this year.
Shares decline
Hochtief shares fell as much as 6 per cent, the most since August 24, and traded 5.3 per cent lower at €77.42 as of 11.46am in Frankfurt on Tuesday. The stock has climbed 33 per cent this year, valuing the company at €5.4 billion. ACS shares fell 0.9 per cent to €28.77 at the same time in Madrid.
ACS, which owned 60.7 per cent of Hochtief before Qatar sold its stake, is planning to set up a holding company that would enable it to merge the German company with its Dragados construction unit, Spanish newspaper El Confidencial reported in February.
QIA also acquired its stake in Hochtief in 2011, and the disposal will free up finances to buy other assets. The Qatari fund is among the groups interested in buying a minority stake in Glencore Plc’s agriculture business, people familiar with the conversations told Bloomberg News on October 8.
Morgan Stanley managed the institutional placement of the Hochtief shares, QIA said.
