A return through a major highway corridor
The auction took place at B3‘s headquarters in São Paulo on 28 May 2026. The winning consortium offered a 19.6% discount on toll rates, ahead of two rival groups.
The concession covers the corridor between Salgueiro, in Pernambuco, and Feira de Santana, in Bahia. It gives the consortium responsibility for a key route in the north-east.
Planned works include 96 kilometres of road duplication, 44 kilometres of frontage roads, and the Serrinha bypass in Bahia. The project carries a 30-year term.
Odebrecht’s return matters because the group once sat at the centre of Operation Car Wash. Its reappearance in a public concession auction suggests that capital providers are still willing to back large Brazilian infrastructure assets when the structure is clear.
A consortium built for scale and financing
The bid was led by Neo Invest, Odebrecht’s investment vehicle for the concession push. Odebrecht holds 34% of the consortium. Mota-Engil and Galápagos each hold 33%.
André Rabello, who leads Neo Invest, said the group had been tracking the pipeline since last year. He said it had also been building partnerships around capital structure and technical execution. That included Galápagos and Mota-Engil.
Rabello said Neo Invest’s contribution will match its stake and will include both equity and financing. He also said the platform is separate from OEC and Novonor in financial structure and governance.
The deal also expands Mota-Engil’s Brazilian footprint. Manuel Mota, the group’s vice-president, said the project has scale and sits in a growing state. The Portuguese company already has exposure in Brazil through the Santos-Guarujá tunnel PPP and contracts with Petrobras.
Odebrecht still operates transport and sanitation concessions in Peru and Panama. In Brazil, its former concessions arm, OTP, sold assets over time as the group reduced debt. That history makes this re-entry notable for investors watching the next wave of infrastructure awards.
The key test now is execution. According to Valor Internacional, investors will watch funding, delivery discipline, and the next auction round for signs that Brazil’s concessions market can keep attracting complex capital at scale.
