Anger as Spanish construction giant Ferrovial plans head office move to Netherlands

BUSINESS ·
In the UK the business owns engineering company Amey and a big share of Heathrow, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports

J. M. Camerero / SUR

Madrid

Friday, 3 March 2023, 14:58

The government is furious after the decision by one of Spain's flagship companies to move its official registered office to the Netherlands.

The minister for Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, has told the boss of construction giant Ferrovial that the move creates a bad impression of Spain to investors at a «crucial» time.

Ferrovial wants to go ahead with the Dutch move to make it more attractive to investors, and argues that no Spanish jobs will be affected and that the vast majority of its business is outside Spain anyway. The company is in 20 countries, including the US and Britain. In the UK it owns engineering company Amey and a big share of Heathrow, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports.

Calviño explained to the president of Ferrovial, Rafael del Pino that it is «unacceptable» that a company «born and raised in Spain» should show «this lack of commitment» to its country of origin.

Ministers believe that the company's international growth came on the back of lucrative public construction contracts within Spain with taxpayers money.

Ferrovial argues that there will be no real tax advantage of having registered its official address in the Netherlands but that the move will open doors to new funding and listings on other stock markets, including in the US.

Ferrovial made a profit of 186 million euros in 2022 and said that 82 per cent of its earnings are already outside Spain. The move to the Netherlands still needs to be formally approved by its shareholders.

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Anger as Spanish construction giant Ferrovial plans head office move to Netherlands

BUSINESS · In the UK the business owns engineering company Amey and a big share of Heathrow, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports

BUSINESS ·
In the UK the business owns engineering company Amey and a big share of Heathrow, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports