Nortia, Lao's investment branch, has a 5% share in the construction company and is on the verge of joining the board.
A combination of financial operations led by US investment banks and share purchases by long-term investors have driven Sacyr’s stock market value to record highs, with a strong revaluation in recent months encouraged by the greater size and attractiveness of its concession project and the extraordinary revenues from disinvestments, which are higher than expected.
The latest move was made by Spanish investor Manuel Lao through his company Nortia, which has passed the threshold of 5% of Sacyr’s capital, up from an initial 3%. Lao has recently bought shares to reach a shareholding that, at current prices, exceeds 100 million euros.
Sacyr ended yesterday at 3.05 euros per share, up 0.99%, with a market capitalisation of 2,089 million euros. Since Manuel Manrique, Sacyr’s Chairman, announced the partially executed disinvestment plan in October 2022, the share price has risen by 50%. Today it is worth one euro more than it was 10 months ago.
Analysts such as CaixaBank set Sacyr’s target price at over 4 euros per share, as a result of the potential of its concessions division, whose value, according to Manrique, is expected to reach 3.7 billion euros in 2025, 1.7 billion more than what its parent company is currently worth.
After the delisting of Abertis and Atlantia, there are few representatives of the sector left on the stock exchange, which makes Sacyr desirable and a purchase option for large investors who see infrastructure management as a safe haven.
The company, which regained its place on the Ibex in June last year, is among the most repeated stocks in the portfolios of large US investment banks that are using the Spanish construction company’s shares as financial hedges for third parties. The presence of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs in the shareholding, through swaps, is noteworthy.
At the end of June, JPMorgan entered Sacyr’s capital with a 6% share (5.264% through financial instruments). The investment bank holds 5.17 million shares indirectly and 35.09 million shares in financial instruments. Goldman has also grown its stake in Sacyr in recent weeks through derivatives by managing third party shares to 7.3%. The latest was Bank of America, which declared a direct and indirect 5.1% share in Sacyr to the CNMV this week. Just three days later, this position has been fully liquidated as it is also a financial hedge of shares for third parties.
Company sources insist that foreign institutional investors from the US and the UK have started to look more closely at the stock since the group returned to the Ibex, has closed the strategic plan in advance, has complied with the disinvestment plan and distributes dividends on a regular basis.
Interest in Sacyr has also increased following the sale of the environmental services and facility business (still in process). Sacyr has sold its Valoriza Medioambiente division to an investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley for 734 million euros, an operation that generates 270 million euros in capital gains at a multiple over EBITDA of more than nine times, higher than other similar disinvestments.