Ferrovial to get absorbed by Dutch unit, seek listing abroad

MADRID (Reuters) -Spain' Ferrovial announced a plan for a reverse merger on Tuesday under which its wholly-owned Dutch subsidiary Ferrovial International SE (FISE) will absorb the engineering company and seek listing in Spain, the Netherlands and the United States.

FISE will become the main Ferrovial holding company, with its corporate domicile moving to the Netherlands, Ferrovial said in a statement, adding that it expected no impact on business, strategy and day-to-day operations, nor changes in voting rights or board.

It expects the operation to occur in the second or third quarter of 2023. Planned dual listing in the Netherlands and Spain should facilitate subsequent application for listing in the U.S. market.

The construction conglomerate made the announcement on the same day it presented 2022 earnings, which showed 88% of its 7.55 billion euros ($8.01 billion) in revenues came from outside of Spain, while it saw better opportunities for its motorway and airport concessions in the United States.

The sales rose 4.2% from 2021 helped by a strong performance of its toll road division, mainly in the United States.

Ferrovial booked a profit of 186 million euros in 2022, 84% lower than a year earlier, which it attributed to higher one-off gains in 2021.

($1 = 0.9429 euros)

(Reporting by Corina Pons, editing by Andrei Khalip)