Banca March acquires 40% of Lineas-Concessões, company controlling concessionaire Lusoponte

Cuatrecasas has advised Banca March on acquiring, together with infrastructure fund manager Serena Industrial Partners, 40% of Lineas-Concessões de Transportes (“LCT”) from Novo Banco. LCT owns (i) 50.05% of Lusoponte, concessionaire in Lisbon of the 25 de Abril and Vasco da Gama bridges; and (ii) 80% of the Douro Interior highway. The remaining 60% of LCT’s capital will continue to be owned by building company Mota-Engil.

The transaction was carried out by creating March Lusitana, a private equity vehicle that will give Banca March's clients the possibility to co-invest and participate in the transaction. The advisory team was led by Portuguese lawyer Francisco Santos Costa (Corporate and M&A), together with expert lawyers in Spain and Portugal, including Jorge Canta and Jorge Serrote (Corporate and M&A), and lawyers Serena Cabrita Neto, Fernando Remón, Carlos Ferrer, Javier Calle and Ana Helena Farinha (Tax). They collaborated with experts from the firm’s finance, labor and employment, compliance, white collar crime, public law and intellectual property practices from both countries.

For Banca March, this is an investment in some of the most important iconic infrastructures in Europe, with the potential to grow even bigger, considering the expected concession extensions, the promotion of tourism and the new real estate and infrastructure developments planned in Portugal.