Abenewco 1, the vehicle that houses Abengoa’s projects, has launched the sale of one of its main assets in the world, the Agadir desalination plant in Morocco. The Seville-based company has promoted the divestment of the 51% it owns in the concession company that operates the facility, according to market sources familiar with the operation.
The process has attracted the interest of international industrial groups and investment funds. Among the first is the Spanish company Acciona, which already has a presence in the North African country, and French companies such as Engie. Other Spanish operators such as Aqualia, a subsidiary of FCC, Sacyr and Lantania, for their part, have been left out and, according to the sources consulted.
Abengoa, which has been in bankruptcy proceedings since February 2020 -Abenewco 1 and 26 other companies requested, for their part, the pre-bankruptcy on June 30-, thus promotes the divestment of its assets
Potential buyers have already received the details of the divestment and firms such as Acciona are analyzing the process
The Moroccan desalination plant emerges as one of the most valuable assets of Abenewco 1. Abengoa, together with InfraMaroc as an investment partner, was awarded the contract for a desalination and irrigation project in the Agadir region at the end of 2017. The project, with a value of 309 million euros, includes the development of a desalination plant with a total production capacity of 275,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day (150,000 cubic meters of drinking water and 125,000 cubic meters of water for irrigation) and reverse osmosis technology. It is the largest plant designed and conceived for the combined use of drinking water and irrigation throughout the world.
The contract also contemplates the possibility of expanding the capacity to 400,000 cubic meters/day and operation and maintenance for 30 years. Abengoa announced in June that it had satisfactorily passed all the contractual tests for the desalination plant.
Potential buyers have already received the details of the divestment and firms such as Acciona are analyzing the process, according to sources familiar with the matter. The group chaired by José Manuel Entrecanales, who did not comment, entered the water business in Morocco in 2012 with a water treatment plant and has subsequently won other supply network projects. He currently leads one of the six participating consortiums. To this end, it has allied itself with Afriquia Gaz and Green of Africa, two subsidiaries of the Moroccan AKWA. Lantania and Abengoa are also competing for this project. Seville engineering has joined forces with Engie.
Precisely the French group is also studying to present an offer. With extensive experience in the country, it maintains a strategic alliance with the Moroccan Nareva, with which it could compete. Other French companies such as Suez and Veolia or the Japanese Mitsui, together with local firms, also appear as possible interested parties.
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