In the course of an act celebrated in the Torre Picasso building, in Madrid, FCC has purchased the Austrian environmental services company ASA from the French electricity company EDF.

EDF has been paid 224 million euros, FCC thus assuming 51 million euros of ASA's debt.

The operation was signed on behalf of FCC Board Representative, Rafael Montes, and on behalf of the seller by Maurice Orfeuil, the solicitor acting for EDF.

ASA, based in Himberg, near Vienna, is a leading company in global waste management and disposal -including collection, transportation, treatment, dumps, classification and recycling - on behalf of municipal, commercial, industrial and private clients in the region.

The company is established in Austria, the Chec Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Rumania and has well developed plans for expansion in Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Serbia.

Sales for 2005 amounted to almost 200 million euros, with a gross operating profit margin of 17% and has 2,500 employees.

The company manages 20 controlled dumps, with an available capacity amounting to 21.9 million cubic metres; it manages 1,5 million tonnes of waste annually, serves a population of some 2.5 million people and also invoices 54,000 commercial and industrial clients.

ASA represents a high interest investment move for FCC:

• Significant international growth in waste management and treatment with access to a market of over 110 million people.
• A unique opportunity for the development and implementation of waste management in eastern European countries where significant growth rates (of over 6%) are expected.
• An ideal platform for the introduction and development of other lines of business such as global water supply management, construction and diverse services in central and eastern European countries.

This operation fits into FCC's Strategic Plan as impelled by the company's main shareholder, Esther Koplowitz, President of the Strategic Committee. The plan pursues the aim of increasing the growth and profitability of FCC's strategic business areas, such as the services sector, through international investments.