Pinsent Masons advises Bestinver Infra, FCR on acquisition of remaining shares in Irish toll road concession & operation companies

Pinsent Masons has advised Bestinver Infra, FCR on the acquisition of the remaining shares in N6 (Concession) Holdings Limited and N6 (Operations) Ltd, with Japanese co-investor Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure Co. Ltd. 

The target companies were awarded concession rights by the Irish National Roads Authority (now Transport Infrastructure Ireland) on 4th April 2007, to construct and manage the motorway which runs up to Galway city. 

Bestinver Infra, FCR is an asset manager headquartered in Madrid, targeting a major increase in its ownership of infrastructure assets. Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure Co. Ltd. heads up the infrastructure investment business of Daiwa Securities Group, one of the largest independent, full-service securities groups in Japan.

Pinsent Masons advised Bestinver Infra, FCR on its initial purchase of shares in the target companies from Sacyr Concessions Limited which completed in September 2023. The remaining shares were held by each of Globalvia Inversiones Ireland Limited and Hegarty Concessions Unlimited Company. Following agreements to acquire the Globalvia and Hegarty interests in late 2023, Pinsent Masons teams in London, Madrid, Dublin and Edinburgh have worked with the Bestinver team towards completion of both the transactions, achieved 6th March 2024.

The Pinsent Masons team acting on the transaction was led by Sonal Shah, projects & finance partner in London (with support from Sam Roberts and Alex Kelly as well as Gillian Frew based in Edinburgh) but involved lawyers from across the firm including the corporate team in Ireland (led by Dorian Rees and Maeve O’Brien), the corporate team in Madrid (led by Rafael Durán Frías and Alvaro Estrada Reina).

Commenting on the deal, Sonal Shah said:

"It’s been a pleasure to work with the Bestinver team and all stakeholders and their advisers on these transactions which signal an important consolidation of Bestinver’s entry into the Irish PPP market. Pinsent Masons’ collaboration with Bestinver and within and across multiple offices and skillsets facilitated a co-ordinated and efficient conclusion to the acquisitions, and into the next stage of asset management.”