AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. is exiting its investment in Ontario’s Highway 407, selling its last 6.76 percent stake in the toll road operator for $2.79 billion to sharpen its focus on engineering and nuclear innovation. The Montreal company finalized deals on Thursday with Ferrovial SE of Spain and CPP Investments, transferring 5.06 percent to Ferrovial for $2.09 billion and 1.70 percent to CPP for $700 million.
The sales depend on CPP Investments offloading its own 7.51 percent share to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, with all transactions expected to close by mid-2025. CEO Ian Edwards hailed the divestiture as a “key milestone,” freeing up capital to cut debt, pursue acquisitions, and reward shareholders while positioning AtkinsRéalis as a pure-play engineering powerhouse.
The deal, which fetched a higher-than-anticipated valuation, follows a 2019 sale of a 10 percent stake to a CPPIB affiliate for $3 billion plus potential bonuses. Now unburdened by highway ownership, the company is riding a nuclear boom, with its backlog swelling to $17.2 billion thanks to contracts like the Pickering reactor refurbishment and Romania’s Cernavoda project.
Edwards shrugged off concerns over U.S. trade tensions and spending cuts, pointing to steady demand for infrastructure renewal. Still, ongoing losses from fixed-price contracts, such as the delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT, remain a drag, costing $84.4 million last quarter.