French consortium could bid for stake in Sacyr of Spain 07/01/2008 00:00

Consortium grouping the Credit Agricole bank and insurance groups Axa and Groupama could acquire the 33.2-percent stake held by Eiffage

   MADRID, January 7, 2008  - A French consortium grouping the Credit
Agricole bank and insurance groups Axa and Groupama could acquire the
33.2-percent stake held by Eiffage of France in the Spanish construction
company Saycr, a website reported Monday.
   The Spanish site, elConfidencial, said the matter could be raised during a
Spanish-French summit January 10.
   Citing sources it did not identify, it said senior Spanish and French
officials were preparing for the withdrawal of Sacyr from Eiffage.
   Sacyr for the past two years has held a 33.3-percent stake in Eiffage, with
the French firm scrambling to prevent Sacyr from taking complete control.
   But Sacyr said in November it was ready to sell its interest in a reversal
of position.
   "We are open to any type of offer," Sacyr president Luis del Rivero told a
news conference.
   Eiffage, the third-biggest French public works group and the sixth largest
in Europe, had been determined not to fall into the hands of its Spanish rival.
   Eiffage is known for building the Millau viaduct in southern France, the
highest road bridge in the world.
   A Sacyr-Eiffage tie-up would create the fourth-biggest European civil
engineering and construction group.
AFP