Abertis appoint new chairman in wake of takeover

Toll road management firm Abertis got a new boss on Friday when Marcelino Fernández Verdes replaced Salvador Alemany as chairman of the company. The firm announced on Monday that the board would meet on Friday to make the new appointment following a deal between Italian motorway operator Atlantia and Spanish construction group ACS to take over the company. New board members were also appointed, Abertis said in a statement.

The successful takeover of Abertis was announced on Monday, with ACS’s German subsidiary, Hochtief, becoming the major shareholder with 78.9% of the stock. On the same day, the company announced that Alemany, who opposed the deal, would be replaced. The new board members appointed on Friday are Hochtief executives, but the board also appointed a new executive director in the shape of Abertis executive, José Aljaro.

The new chairman of Abertis has been on the ACS board since 2017, but joined the group of Real Madrid football club president Florentino Pérez back in 1987. During his time at ACS, Fernández Verdes has occupied a number of posts, and is also chairman of Hochtief’s executive committee and executive chairman of the Australian group, CIMIC. The new board is made up of 14 members, including three independent board members who continue in their posts.

Atlantia and ACS had been competing for months over which of them would take over Abertis, with a series of escalating bids for the Spanish firm. Yet, with fears that a bidding war would make a takeover too expensive, the two companies decided instead to make a joint bid, with ACS acting through its subsidiary, Hochtief. ACS and Atlantia offered 18.36 euros per share for 100% of the company stock, putting a value on Abertis of 18.1 billion euros. However, the final deal was for those shares in circulation, or 78.79% of the company.