MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish construction giant Ferrovial said on Friday that none of its investors took an option to divest after a majority of its shareholders approved a plan to move the holding’s headquarters to the Netherlands from Spain.
“We are not aware of any shareholder exercising the right of separation,” the company said on the last day for investors to sell their shares if they disagreed with the plan.
Dissenters were given an option to sell their shares back to the company for 26 euros each.
The decision to move its jurisdiction to Amsterdam sparked a public spat with the government, which accused Ferrovial and its Chairman Rafael del Pino of disloyalty to Spain, and warnings from officials that it would be closely scrutinised by the tax agency.
During the shareholder vote in April, a minority, who included the chairman’s brother, voted against the plan.
Leopoldo del Pino was listed as the company’s fifth-largest investor, according to sources familiar with the shareholder vote, adding that his holding represented 5.5% of the voting shares at the meeting.
The company said at that time that the proposal got 93.3% approval at its annual general meeting, while 5.8% voted against.
Ferrovial’s board described the proposed move as an “expeditious” way to apply for a U.S. listing, while sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that potential access to the U.S. government funding for the energy transition and other subsidies had influenced the decision.
Ferrovial reported last week a 39% rise in first-quarter core earnings, mainly due to higher tolls and a strong recovery in mobility in North America, where it has two-thirds of its business and is looking to expand.
(Reporting by Corina Pons; editing by Charlie Devereux and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
