Eiffage has entered into an agreement to acquire from TCI Fund Management Limited 13.71% of the share capital of Getlink representing 75,383,972 shares.
Following the settlement, the shares will be added to the 5.08% acquired in 2018 and Eiffage will hold 18.79% of Getlink’s share capital and become its largest shareholder.
The transaction worth EUR 1.19 billion with EUR 15.84 per share, was financed by Eiffage from its available cash and is not subject to any conditions. In the future, the group could structure financing around its stake in Getlink. If Eiffage were to sale the shares within 18 months of its acquisition, part of the capital gain would be paid back to the TCI Fund Management Limited.
Eiffage supports Getlink’s current strategy and will seek the appointment of a number of directors consistent with its capital holding.
Shareholder since 2018, Eiffage intends being a long-term investor in Getlink and reserves the right to continue its purchases depending on market conditions. However, Eiffage indicates that it does not plan to file a public offer on the balance of the capital.
Getlink is, through its subsidiary Eurotunnel, the concession holder for the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel until 2086. The Channel Tunnel linking Folkestone (UK) and Calais (France) is carrying 25% of UK-EU trade, and has become a vital link between the continent and the United Kingdom.
The transaction is part of the group’s strategy to diversify its concession portfolio in its target territories. Already strong with numerous concessions or transport infrastructure partnership contracts, Eiffage is extending, through this acquisition, the duration of its portfolio while strengthening its participation in a key player in the decarbonisation of transport in Europe.
Eiffage participated in the civil engineering works of the Channel Tunnel and takes part today in the construction of the Euralpin Lyon – Turin tunnel. It is involved in numerous track-laying, electrical, ventilation and monitoring packages as part of the Grand Paris Express and is modernising the signalling on the Paris-Lyon high-speed line.
Eiffage is also the concessionaire and maintainer of the Bretagne-Pays de la Loire high-speed line, carried out in design-build by all the group’s businesses.
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