This section presents the main facts that took place after the reporting period and not yet commented on in the previous sections of the Annual Financial Report of the Salini Impregilo Group as at December 31, 2015.
Lane Industries Incorporated
The acquisition of a 100% equity investment in Lane Industries Incorporated was finalized on January 4, 2016.
The value of the transaction is of approximately US$ 460 million. Salini Impregilo funded the operation through a bridge loan of €400 million with maturity at May 2017, granted by 5 premier international banks.
Lane is the biggest builder of freeways and the largest private asphalt manufacturer in the United States. It is a private company with a history spanning over 100 years, specialized in civil and transport infrastructure, with a turnover of approximately US$1.5 billion, 53 active projects in over 20 States of the United States and around 5,000 employees.
The company operates in three segments: asphalt manufacturing, road and other infrastructural projects on the US and international market.
Thanks to its impressive track record, technical expertise and strategic location for the manufacturing of materials, Lane takes part in some of the largest and most complex projects in the United States, such as the construction of a freeway in Florida, the I-4 Ultimate, a US$2.3 billion contract of which Lane has a 30% share.
The acquisition of Lane is another step undertaken by the Group to foster its development in the US infrastructure sector. The USA construction sector will become a core market for Salini Impregilo, with a share of approx. 21% of total revenues.
With Lane, Salini Impregilo will be able to tender for and participate in a larger number of projects. It is estimated that the US transport infrastructure market may grow at higher rate than GNP thanks to economic recovery, demographic growth and the demand for maintenance of existing infrastructure after years of underinvestment.
Lane’s presence in the Group will open up significant commercial development opportunities, increasing portfolio diversification and exposure to advanced and developing markets. To this end, it should be notated that, in March 2016, the Purple Line Transit Partners Consortium, which includes Lane Construction, was selected as best bidder for the design and development of the Purple Line, railway line, a project worth two billion dollar. The works entail the development of 21 stations along a 16-mile line that will cross Montgomery and Prince George counties in the State of Maryland.
The consortium, in which Lane has a 30% share (for a pro quota amount of US$600 million dollars) and that includes Fluor Enterprises Inc. and Traylor Bros Inc., will start construction work by the end of 2016. The project is expected to finish in 2022.
Verona-Padua High Speed/Capacity Railway Line Project
With notice of January 28, 2016, the Shareholder Ansaldo STS S.p.A. informed consortium partners about its intention to transfer its entire stake in the Iricav Due Consortium to Salini Impregilo S.p.A. and Astaldi S.p.A..
However, the transaction, which will enable Salini Impregilo to increase its stake in the initiative by 8.12%, is subject to the positive opinion of the Consortium’s Shareholders’ Meeting and the issue to the required authorization by the contracting authority R.F.I. S.p.A., without prejudice to the preemptive right of other Consortium partners, at the same conditions and proportionally to their respective, current stake.
Contribution of Todini Costruzioni Generali S.p.A. Business Unit
February 3, 2016, saw the end of the consultation pursuant to Article 47 of Italian Law 428/90 and subsequent amendments and additions, which had been started with Company letter of January 27, 2016, through which trade unions were informed about the impending transaction for the contribution of a Business Unit from the transferor Todini Costruzioni Generali S.p.A. to the transferee subsidiary HCE Costruzioni S.p.A.. The transaction must be considered in the wider context of the transfer of Todini’s shares in favor of the company Prime System KZ Ltd. already discussed in the previous paragraph “Introductory remarks on data compatibility”.
S7 Expressway - Poland
On January 20, 2016, the Salini Impregilo Group won a €117 million contract for building a section of the S7 Expressway, south of Krakow, near the Slovakian border.
The works, which shall last 22 months in total, include approx. 6 km of fully asphalted road, 2 junctions with roundabouts and 21 works of art, including: a bridge (992 m long) and a viaduct with multiple spans (400 m long). The Client is the Polish General Directorate for National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA).
The contact increases the value of the Salini Impregilo order book in the country to over 650 million euros and consolidates the Group’s leadership in the infrastructure sector, with projects in progress for S3 Nowa Sol - Legnica, S8 Warsaw Ring Road, S7 Checiny - Jedrzejow, as well as A1 lot F near Katowice.