Economy / Business.- Ferrovial embarks on a judicial battle in Canada over the control of its 'star' highway

The company that presides over Rafael del Pino has appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal for the recent resolution of the Superior Court that denied him the preferential right of purchase over 10% of the highway that SNC Lavalin has sold, as they confirmed to Europa Press in legal sources

This Canadian construction company has sold this participation to the third partner of the highway, to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) fund which, in this way, has increased its participation in the road to 50.01% and, therefore, has been made With your control.

Ferrovial, through Cintra, maintains 43.23% of the capital of the ETR-407, while SCN Lavalín has reduced its participation to 6.76%.

The conflict stems from the doubts that this Canadian construction company showed about Ferrovial having a preferable right to buy all or part of 10% of the capital of the road that it put up for sale last April.

As SNC Lavalín then indicated, under a shareholder agreement signed in 2002, Ferrovial waived having a pre-emptive right to purchase any percentage of the highway provided it was not sold to competing firms in the construction and highway concession sector.

Always according to the Canadian construction company, in this case, the Spanish group argued that OMERS, the Ontario municipal employee pension fund with whom SCN Lavalin initially agreed to purchase the sale, is Cintra's "competitor" in terms of investor in concessions, with what the sale to this institution supposed an exception to said pact of partners.

FIRST JUDICIAL FAILURE.

Given this situation, SNC Lavalín promoted an arbitration before the Superior Court of Ontario last May, which finally ruled in August in favor of this local construction company, which finally proceeded to sell 10% of the ETR-407 to CPP, to whom he did recognize the right of preferential purchase. Now, Ferrovial raises an appeal against this decision before the Ontario Court of Appeals.

The Spanish group has already shown its willingness to increase its participation in the road at the beginning of last May when, on the occasion of the presentation of its quarterly results, it said it was interested in increasing its percentage and, in addition, having sufficient liquidity to undertake the possible investment

Subsequently, in the closing results of June, Ferrovial expressed its interest in exercising the right of preferential acquisition for the 5% participation in the road in case the courts allowed it and estimated at 1,600 million Canadian dollars (about 1,100 million million euros) the eventual disbursement.

The company addresses this judicial process in Canada on the eve of the next June 1 Ignacio Madridejos relieves Íñigo Meirás as CEO and while working on the sale of the services business.