CVC exits Spanish toll road firm Abertis at a discount

(Updates with full details of CVC (Taiwan OTC: 4744.TWO - news) exit from Abertis (Amsterdam: IF6.AS - news) )

MADRID, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Spanish toll road operator Abertis fell nearly 6 percent at one point on Friday after private equity firm CVC Capital Partners sold its remaining stake in the company at a discount.

CVC sold its 6.3 percent holding at 13.68 euros ($14.61) per share, below the 15 euros per share it paid five years ago, and at a 6.4 percent discount to Thursday's closing price. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) raised 818 million euros.

Though public registers showed CVC had a 7.1 percent stake in Abertis as of Thursday, a source with knowledge of the deal said that the firm had been whittling down its holding and that by selling the 6.3 percent stake, it had now fully exited the company.

CVC had held a stake in Abertis since 2010 but began offloading it earlier this year.

Shares in Abertis had recovered slightly by 1222 GMT, though they were still down 4 percent at 14 euros.

CVC, via an investment vehicle known as Trebol, was once of Abertis' biggest shareholders, alongside financial group La Caixa, which holds a 24.1 percent stake, and Spanish builder OHL (Amsterdam: OH6.AS - news) , which has a 16 percent holding.

Abertis posted a 6 percent drop in nine-month core profit last month, blaming reduced activity and currency effects in Brazil which offset solid traffic growth in Spain, France and Chile.

CVC had bought a 15.6 percent holding in Abertis in 2010. This year it reduced its holding and in March, it placed a 7.5 percent stake at 16.4 euros per share. ($1 = 0.9361 euros) (Reporting by Robert Hetz in Madrid and Joanna Jonczyk-Gwizdala in Gdynia; Editing by Susan Thomas and Susan Fenton)