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Clifford Chance advises Arcus Infrastructure and The José de Mello Group on the sale of an interest in Portuguese toll road concessionaire Brisa

27 April 2020

Clifford Chance advises Arcus Infrastructure and The José de Mello Group on the sale of an interest in Portuguese toll road concessionaire Brisa

International law firm Clifford Chance has advised Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1 ("AEIF1") and The José de Mello Group ("JdM") on the joint sale of a combined 81.1% majority stake in Brisa Auto-Estradas de Portugal S.A. (‘Brisa’). AEIF1 is selling its entire 40.6% interest as part of the transaction and JdM is selling an equal 40.6% interest in the joint sale. This transaction marks the sixth and final exit for AEIF1, following the sale of Alpha Trains in December 2019, a transaction which Clifford Chance also advised AEIF1 on.

Brisa is a leading toll road concessionaire in Europe (c. 1.575km total network length) and the largest road platform in Portugal representing approximately 57% of total national distance travelled and approximately 43% of the country’s toll road network.

The consortium buying the equity stake is comprised of three institutional investors, namely APG Asset Management N.V., the National Pension Service of the Republic of Korea and Swiss Life Asset Management AG. The acquisition will be made through a vehicle directly and indirectly wholly owned by the consortium and jointly controlled by APG and the National Pension Service.

The completion of the deal is subject to approval by the relevant regulators and expected to take place during the third quarter of this year.

The team was led by infrastructure M&A Partner Toby Parkinson and supported by Senior Associate Jonathan Dillon and Associate Ciaran Cronin who advised on the English law aspects of the transaction.