Analysts cheer Besalco's US$22mn Conciviles acquisition

The acquisition of a 50.01% stake in Colombian construction firm Conciviles will cost Chilean builder Besalco some 40bn Colombian pesos (US$22mn), Besalco president Víctor Bezanilla was quoted as saying by local financial daily Diario Financiero. From that total, 17bn pesos will be used as a capital increase, while the remainder will be given as a loan "that could be incorporated as capital in the future," Bezanilla said. Although the company has been directly involved in the Peruvian market for 17 years, Conciviles represents its first acquisition abroad, Bezanilla also pointed out. CELFIN'S TAKE Financial services firm Celfin said the deal is a net positive from a strategic point of view, although the deal is unlikely to move the bottom line in 2013. "Besalco also has a solid track record with respect to managing its acquisitions, though the scale of the acquired company is unprecedented for Besalco," Celfin's Alex Sadzawka wrote. The firm said that funds for the deal are readily available, following Besalco's sale of two Chilean highway concessions last month. Celfin said the sale of these highways will bring a one-time profit of 10.9bn Chilean pesos (US$18mn) pre-tax. "It is too soon to incorporate numbers into our model, but though the acquisition is not large enough to substantially influence our model, it should, if successful, add a new driver (Colombia's infrastructure deficit) to Besalco's already successful story," Sadzawka wrote.