The Spanish Copasa bids for new highway concessions in Brazil worth 1.6 billion
The Sociedad Anónima de Obras y Servicios (Copasa), with a Galician accent, seeks to take a leap in its international business with the Rota Sertaneja highway concessiona stretch of more than 530 kilometers in the interior of Brazil that will require investments close to 10.2 billion reais (equivalent to 1.65 billion euros at the current exchange rate).
According to the minutes consulted, the construction company is among the initial proposals from the Brazilian company. Construcapforming a consortium that will compete with the French group Vinci and local businesses way and XP Investments. The contract, with a duration of 30 years, provides for an award based on the greatest discount offered on the toll rate set by the federal government.
The Rota Sertaneja comprises 530.6 kilometers of federal highways BR-153/262/GO/MG, connecting 21 municipalities, between Hidrolândia (Goiás state) and Comendador Gomes (Minas Gerais). The investment plan includes 5.3 billion reais in capital expenditure (capex) and 4.9 billion in operation and maintenance (opex). Among the main works planned are the widening of 42 km of road and the construction of 31.8 km of additional lanes, among other services.
The company chaired by José Luis Suárez thus seeks to repeat the success it had last May in the same market, when it was awarded, together with the same partner and OHLA, the concession of a 218.9 km section of the BR-040 highwaywhich connects the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, for an approximate amount of 850 million euros, also with a duration of 30 years. During these three decades, the consortium will be in charge of rehabilitating, expanding and operating one of the most important logistics corridors in the country.
The coincidence of both projects – the recent award and the bid for Rota Sertaneja – highlights Copasa’s strategy of consolidating its deployment in Brazil as relevant actor in the highway concessionat a time when the country is strongly promoting private participation in its road network, which is going through the largest investment cycle in the history of the sector in Brazil. It should also be noted that the firm is carrying out the renovation of three airports in the state of Matro Grosso do Sul, a work tendered, precisely, by Aena under a budget of 78.6 million euros.
On a financial level, the Galician company closed 2024 with record profits, after stabilizing its turnover above 429 million euros and raising its order book to 1,758 million, of which 45% corresponded to international contracts. The construction division continues to be the main driving force of the group, contributing 60% of the total volume, followed by the areas of water purification and waste management, concessions and other complementary activities.
In the breakdown of its business, of the almost 430 million invoiced, 300.2 million come from projects in Spain, which maintains the domestic market as its main source of income. However, international activity already represents 30% of the net amount of the turnover, with a growing weight in Latin America. In this area, Copasa is reorienting its policy towards concession projectsconvinced that this formula will be key to consolidating its foreign expansion and sustaining its growth rate in the coming years.
