A brief look at the beginnings of the group, the milestones in its history and the reasons why ENA is now a benchmark for excellence in infrastructure management.

Imagen Historia

ENA Infraestructuras, formerly known as Empresa Nacional de Autopistas, ie, the national toll-road enterprise, was set up on 21st March 1984 to manage the Spanish toll road assets (Audasa, Aucalsa and Audenasa) that the Spanish government had bought from private-sector operators in 1983. The government decided to take over the management of these assets due to the economic crisis that hit Spain in the early eighties, so that it could better control the development, construction and management of the major roads so necessary to the country’s economic growth.

The first step in this process was the enactment of the decree law (23rd November 1983) authorising the State to buy out the privately owned share capital of the concession companies, Aucalsa and Audasa. Through ENA, the Spanish State acquired 50% of the Audenasa share capital on 5th July 1984. Then, in 1995, the State-run company was awarded a new concession, Autoestradas de Galicia. In May 2003, the holding company for the Spanish State industrial investments (SEPI) privatised the company, selling the ENA share capital to a consortium of enterprises headed by Sacyr Vallehermoso (SyV).

After the sale, its name was changed to ENA Infraestructuras and it was incorporated into Itinere, SyV‘s business arm for operating its concessions.

In June 2009, Citi Infrastructure Partners (CIP) made a public bid for Itinere. This was accepted by SyV, which passed control over the Itinere business (and the assets of ENA and its concession companies) to CIP.