Applus' new parent company establishes its headquarters in Catalonia
The certification and ITV company had moved to Madrid after the 1-O
BarcelonaThe new parent company of the certification and MOT group Applus has established its headquarters in Catalonia, according to sources from the company told ARA. Applus was one of the major companies that moved its headquarters out of Catalonia after the October 1st referendum.
The group, which was listed on the stock exchange, was mired in a series of takeover bids last year and, following the change of ownership and the acquisition by TDX and I Squared, Applus+ has created a new company, called Amber BidCo, SL, which is domiciled in Barcelona. Thus, one of the companies that moved its headquarters to Madrid after October 1st now has its decision-making center in the Catalan capital.
After it left with the referendum, Applus moved to the Las Mercedes Business Park. This return of the headquarters to Catalonia adds to those approved in recent months by other important companies, such as Banco Sabadell, the La Caixa Foundation and its holding company CriteriaCaixa, Molins (formerly Cementos Molins), Laboratorios Ordesa or two Cirsa subsidiaries: Cirsa International Business Corporation and Cirsa Enterprises.
Amber, the consortium between the funds I Squared and TDX, won the race to take control of Applus after the takeover bid war. According to information published by the CNMV, Amber submitted an offer of 12.78 euros per share, above the 12.51 euros proposed by the American fund Apollo.
Applus is a company founded in Catalonia—it emerged within the Agbar group, although it later spun off—but it maintains a strong presence in Spain and internationally, both in the MOT business and in certifications. Furthermore, last year the company achieved renew the award by the Generalitat of the Institute of Applied Automotive Research (Idiada) and its Idiada test track for 800 million euros, in the government's largest capital transaction. The multinational will control 80% of the company for 25 years, after submitting a financial offer of €428 million, almost double the minimum amount set in the bidding rules. This value, together with the money it will pay the Generalitat during the contract period, means that the Catalan government will receive more than €800 million.
