The Marguerite Fund announced today that it has acquired a 45% stake in Autovía del Arlanzón, the concessionaire of the A-1 Motorway project in Spain for EUR 24.5 million. Sacyr Vallehermoso, the seller, retains a 50% stake in the project after the divestment whilst its operating subsidiary, Valoriza Conservación de Infraestructuras, holds the remaining 5% stake.

The A-1 Motorway project consists of the design, construction, conservation and operation of the "Santo Tomé del Puerto-Burgos" section of the A-1 dual carriageway between kilometres 101 and 247. The project was awarded in November 2007 to Sacyr Vallehermoso by the Spanish Ministry of Public Works, as part of the first-generation motorway refurbishment plan under a 19-year shadow-toll concession.

Ernst & Young Madrid acted as Lead and Financial Advisor, working for Marguerite in all the issues associated not only with the Financial Modelling of the transaction but also giving opinion on traffic, O&M costs and legal issues. Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) was also hired for traffic estimates. Perez Llorca was the Legal Advisor.

According to our sources, top executives from the Marguerite Fund were involved in the  deal.   Javier Garcia Seijas (Head of Infrastructure) and Raúl Pérez (Manager) managed the project for E&Y.

The transaction marks the first investment in the transport sector by the Marguerite Fund, an equity fund set up in 2010 to invest in greenfield and expansion projects in the energy, renewables and transport sectors within the EU-27 countries. It has so far invested in excess of EUR 100 million in four projects.

The core sponsors behind Marguerite Fund are the following: Caisse des dépôts et consignations, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti,  European Investment Bank,  Instituto de Crédito Oficial, KfW and PKO Bank Polski SA.