Construction companies are moving away from services and into franchising businesses

grown ups Spanish construction companies They are completing an exit from the services sector to go into the franchise business. It relates to a path that began five years ago and this has helped them reduce their commitments and strengthen other areas of activity.

From Sacyr to Ferrovial, in transit DHWAnd Ohla And FCCAll are listed except Operator They’ve embarked on a detour that isn’t focused on Spain, where the franchise business isn’t going through its best moment. Instead, companies are now focusing on finding opportunities abroad.

The last to announce his departure from the services was Sasirwhich managed to float its environmental subsidiary for more than 700 million euros value A company owned by funds managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

The company you head Manuel Manrique The operation generates 270 million capital gains before taxes and will use the money to reduce debt with recourse. His goal now is to focus entirely on the franchise area.

A few weeks ago it was FCC which announced the sale of 24.99% of its environmental services subsidiary for 965 million euros to the largest pension fund in the world. Canada, CPP. The group controlled by the Mexican businessman Carlos Slim He wants to achieve exceptional income with the subsidiary that contributes the most to the group, as it has already done with the water subsidiary AqualiaAnd By transferring 49% to the Australian Fund mfi – Contributor to Naturgy – for just over 1,000 million. The money received will go to “attending to the group’s strategic opportunities and company needs.”

OHLA, for its part, has also put in place a new divestment plan through which it seeks to stabilize its financial position and reduce debt by another 200 million. The company is headed by a Mexican Louis Amodio It plans to divest its services division this year to focus on construction and franchises.

In connection with this latter activity, carried out through subsidiary Ingesan, OHLA added in 2022 the Accesos Norte 2 road concession, in Colombia, and the Hospital del Niño Jesús expansion, in Spain. In fiscal year 2023, the company that manages Jose Antonio Fernandez Gallar The National Cancer Institute of Chile has just been awarded a concession.

Several months ago, Ferrovial completed the sale of its Services Division after a lengthy process in which it phased out various businesses. The company headed by Rafael Del Pino transferred its British subsidiary Amy For a UK company controlled by managed funds Single Equity Partners.

Previously, it had pulled out of environmental services and infrastructure businesses in Spain and Portugal, turning it over to the Fund Portobello Capital For 170 million. also got rid of A broad spectrumWith operations in Australia and New Zealand; Transportation contracts for urban cleaning, in the UK, and oil and gas business in North America.

The company, which decided despite the opposition of the government to move its headquarters to the Netherlands, adopted the adoption Horizon Plan 24, A strategy until 2024 prioritizes the promotion, construction and management of infrastructures, together with companies in the field of mobility, water and energy. Next Friday, June 16, will launch the dual listing plan on the exchanges Amsterdam And Madridas a step before the ultimate goal of reaching the indicators in United State.

for his part, DHW In 2021, it also closed the sale of its division to the French company Vinci Industrial services for nearly 5,000 million euros. The process that involved getting rid of the Cobra gave the company Florentino Perez A capital gain of 3,000 million euros.

The company chairman himself reported to the shareholder meeting held last May that ACS had disbursed more than 3,300 million euros since January 2022 in corporate mergers and acquisitions, accounting for nearly 70% of all funds received for the sale of the industrial services park. .

The concave also endorsed the shift toward franchising and the gradual divergence of services. Perez highlighted the purchase of 100% of the SH-288 highway concession in United State Through various operations carried out in the past year, with a total value of more than 1400 million euros.