Brisa buys Ascendi’s position in Via Verde to reach 100% stake

Brisa has reached a deal to buy Ascendi’s 25% stake in Via Verde, giving it full owership of the toll charging and mobility services company.

The agreement between the Brisa Group and Ascendi is still subject to approval by the Competition Authority and the Bank of Portugal, the company said. The financial regulator’s intervention is due to the recent creation of Via Verde Pay, a payment system. The value of the deal has not been revealed.

Ascendi, owned by the French fund Ardian, had held a 25% stake in Via Verde since 2021, after exercising its right of first refusal to take the 5% sold by SIBS.

Ascendi is also part of the joint venture created by Via Verde and Germany’s Yunex to implement the new electronic toll collection system for heavy vehicles in the Netherlands, which will operate via satellite. The consortium won the tender launched by the Dutch transport authority (RDW) in October, and the partnership will continue.

Created in 1991, Via Verde processed 566 million toll transactions in 2024, worth 1.4 billion euros, across the 3,000 kilometres of network where it operates. The company has 5.2 million identifiers installed, of which 1.8 million in the purchase plan and 3.4 million in the subscription plan.

Via Verde is also present in 312 car parks and on-street parking in 62 cities. It also offers electric vehicle charging and the purchase of transport tickets via the app.

BCR – Brisa Concessão Rodoviária closed last year with profits of 325.9 million euros, which represents an increase of 17.8% compared to 2023, according to the information communicated to CMVM, the Portuguese Securities Market Commission. The results benefited from the “growth in Portuguese GDP [which] continued to have a positive impact on road traffic”.