A year ago Mexico´s top investor-businessman Carlos Slim used FCC’s Euro 1-billion (US$1.080 billion) capital expansion to acquire a 25.5% equity position in the company, becoming its single largest stakeholder. He is now poised to use a second approved capital increase, which he engineered, of Euro 710 million (US$766 million) to leverage effective control over the Spanish engineering and concessions conglomerate.

This month Slim and Esther Koplowitz, daughter of the founder and the second largest FCC shareholder, agreed to change their shareholders’ agreement that prohibited Slim from owning more than 30% of the company. The change clears the way for Slim, who currently owns 27.43%, to acquire more than 30% of the company, which will trigger, under Spanish law, a requirement that he launch a bid for all the shares he does not own. Slim, however, does not aim for complete FCC ownership