In a major realignment of global infrastructure contracting, France’s Vinci will buy Spanish group ACS’s energy business for approximately €4.9bn in cash, it said today. The two firms opened talks on the sale in October last year.

The acquisition sees Vinci’s headcount increase by 45,000 people, and its expected annual revenues increase by more than €6bn, mainly from ACS’s operations in Spain and Latin America, which enjoy EBIT margins of more than 6%.

Vinci is buying most of the ACS Industrial Services’ (IS) contracting and support services business, which operates in some 50 countries, including eight greenfield concessions under development or in construction, mainly in the electrical transmission field.

Included in the deal is ACS’s renewable energy development platform which has created 4.4GW of generating assets in the past three years.

Vinci sees opportunities for around 15GW-worth of solar and onshore wind projects and some 8GW-worth of offshore wind projects in the short and medium term.

The transaction price is based on ACS’ enterprise value assessed at €4.2bn.

On top of the purchase, price, the deal sees ACS getting €40m for each ready-to-build gigawatt of generating capacity its energy business develops under Vinci for up to 8.5 years after closing, with a ceiling of 15GW or €600m.

Vinci and ACS also aim to set up a joint venture 51% owned by Vinci that will acquire completed renewables assets built by ACS in the future.

“This acquisition is a unique opportunity for Vinci to create a global player in energy contracting and to develop renewables projects, remarkably fitting its strategy,” said Xavier Huillard, Vinci’s chairman and chief executive.

He added: “Synergies derived from complementary geographies, technical expertise and integrated business model will be a significant asset to win new projects and to seize greenfield renewables energy opportunities. We will capitalize on ACS IS recognized track record to enhance Vinci’s contribution to the climate transition and pursue our environmental ambition together.”