SPANISH infrastructure company Abertis and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC have closed the acquisition of their final 20% stake in Red de Carreteras de Occidente (RCO), one of the largest motorway operators in Mexico, bringing their total ownership in the firm to 72.3%.

A 70% stake was put up for sale by Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, with the additional 2.3% stake sold by Mexican investors and pension fund managers.

Abertis now has a controlling 51.3% stake in RCO, valued at 1.5 billion euros (US$1.695 billion), which will be fully consolidated in the Abertis Group's accounts. Following this acquisition, which was announced last October, Abertis now has nearly 8,600 kilometres of directly managed toll roads globally.

GIC, which manages most of the Singaporean government’s financial assets, is one of the city-state's three reserves management entities, alongside the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Temasek.

RCO, which controls five concessionaires that manage 876 kilometres of highways, is one of the largest toll road networks in Mexico. It constitutes the main transportation route in the central-western region, connecting the main industrial corridor of El Bajío with two of the nation’s largest cities, Mexico City and Guadalajara.

Last February, RCO signed an investment programme with the Mexican government for the expansion of motorways managed by FARAC I concessionaire in the country’s western area in exchange for the extension of its concession periods. The company will invest US$339 million in the construction of three toll-free branches aimed at improving mobility and safety in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacan and Jalisco.