The Texas Department of Transportation has approved the acquisition from ACS of its SH-288 highway, a nationalization available in the contract between both parties that will be compensated with a maximum of €1,606 million ($1,731 million) to be paid to the Spanish construction company before October 8, 2024. The Texan administration made the decision this Tuesday, according to documentation consulted by Europa Press, so that it will grant its public transportation corporation the pertinent authorizations to acquire, finance, operate and maintain this highway.
The authorization includes the subscription of a loan to face the payment to terminate the contract with the Spanish company, which began building the highway in 2016 and entered into service four years later, in 2020. With this agreement and the change of ownership of the asset, Texas closes the unilateral decision announced last April.
The current concessionaire, Blueridge, is 43.2% owned by ACS and 56.8% by Abertis (in turn 50% controlled by Florentino Pérez’s company). The Texas government intends to take advantage of the great growth that this highway is experiencing to lower the tolls paid by its citizens and to prevent it from remaining in private hands, whose agreements limit the use of the road as a public service.
