The history of EcoRodovias began in 1997 with Primav Construções e Comércio, a CR Almeida Group company operating in the heavy construction sector and responsible for important infrastructure projects across Brazil. In 1998, it entered into a strategic alliance with Impregilo International N.V., a company of the Impregilo S.p.A Group, the biggest publicly-held construction company in Italy, first at Ecovias dos Imigrantes and, in 2002, with EcoRodovias, by acquiring equity interest. In 2013, Impregilo divested its interest in EcoRodovias.
In May 2016, Gruppo Gavio, one of Italy’s largest infrastructure conglomerates that manages over 6,200 km of highways, joined the control block of EcoRodovias.
The first experience of the Company, which already focused on its strategy of operating on import and export corridors and important tourist routes, came in 1997 when the Group took over the control of Ecovia Caminho do Mar, the concessionaire that managed until November 2021, 137 km of highways between Curitiba, the capital city of Paraná and the Port of Paranaguá. In 1998, EcoRodovias won two more concessions: Ecovias dos Imigrantes, which operates the main connection between the São Paulo metropolitan region and the Port of Santos, the Cubatão Petrochemical Complex and the beaches along the Baixada Santista region; and Ecosul, the concessionaire that manages the Pelotas Highway Hub in Rio Grande do Sul, which provides access to the Port of Rio Grande and the coastal region of Rio Grande do Sul.
In 1999, the Group took another important step towards consolidating its niche in the infrastructure sector by starting construction work on the downhill lane at Imigrantes, a project that had been on hold since the 1970s and which was completed by Ecovias much earlier than expected. In light of the modern environmental management technologies used, the project was considered a benchmark by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The new lane was delivered in December 2002.
The experience gained from the initial concessions was decisive in the acquisition in 2007 of Ecocataratas, which managed until November 2021, the BR-277 highway from Guarapuava to Foz do Iguaçu, which provides access to Mercosur and the tourist region of Foz do Iguaçu; and in Ecopistas winning in 2009, the tender for operating the Ayrton Senna/Carvalho Pinto Corridor, which links the city of São Paulo to Vale do Paraíba, the coastal north region of the state of São Paulo and the Port of São Sebastião.
The Group joined the Novo Mercado listing segment in April 2010 with its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
EcoRodovias entered the port segment in 2012 with the acquisition of the erstwhile Tecondi Complex. The next year, continuing the integration process of the companies, the Complex changed its name to Ecoporto Santos. In Espírito Santo, the Group started operating Eco101 in 2013, on the stretch of BR-101 that connects Rio de Janeiro to the interchange accessing the city of Mucuri in Bahia. In 2015, one more proud achievement for EcoRodovias: entry into Rio de Janeiro through Ecoponte (Rio-Niterói Bridge), which manages the 13.2 km-long Presidente Costa e Silva Bridge and its access sections, spanning 28.7 km in all.
In 2016, the Company decided to exit the logistics sector and focus on highway concessions, divesting Elog Sul and Elog in 2016 and 2018, respectively. In 2018, EcoRodovias won the auction and started operating Eco135 in the state of Minas Gerais, an important long-distance highway corridor in Brazil that is part of the main interconnection route between the Southeast/South and Northeast regions. The Company also signed an agreement for the acquisition of MGO (currently Eco050), which operates the BR-050 (GO/MG) highway on the 436.6 km stretch that begins at the intersection with the BR-040 highway in Cristalina (GO) and ends at the border of Minas Gerais and São Paulo states. The acquisition was subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions precedent that included prior approval from Brazil’s National Ground Transportation Agency (ANTT), which were met and the transaction was concluded at the end of May 2019.
EcoRodovias won the auction held in 2019 to manage the BR-364/365 highway (currently Ecovias do Cerrado), which spans 437 km, including 192.7 km of BR-364 and 244.3 km of BR-365. BR-365 connects Uberlândia, the main city in the Triângulo Mineiro region, with the border of Minas Gerais and Goiás, where it connects with BR-364. BR-364 runs from the city of Jatai in Goiás to the junction with BR-365 close to the border between the two states. The stretch is on one of the most important grain transport routes connecting the Midwestern region to the Port of Santos. It is also an important supply route, especially of general cargo, industrial, construction material and food products for the southern region of Goiás and Minas Gerais.
In April 2021, a consortium formed by EcoRodovias (65% interest) and GLP, through its subsidiary GLP X Participações (35% interest), won the concession to operate an 850.7 km stretch of the BR-153/414/080/TO/GO highway, currently called Ecovias do Araguaia, for 35 years. The concession is one of the main connections between the Center-North and Center-South regions of Brazil.
In June 2021, EcoRodovias held a primary offering of 137,635,144 new shares and a secondary offering of 20,000,000 shares issued by it and held by Primav Infraestrutura S.A. for R$12.50 per share. On occasion, Igli consolidated the shareholding control of EcoRodovias Infraestrutura e Logística and now holds, directly and indirectly, 51.2% of its total and voting capital.
In May 2022, EcoRodovias won the auction for the Rio de Janeiro (RJ) – Governador Valadares (MG) Highway System, consisting of the BR-116/465/493/RJ/MG highways, including the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Arch and the stretch of Serra de Teresópolis, totaling 726.9 km. The new concession, EcoRioMinas, started partial operation in September 2022.
In September 2022, EcoRodovias won the auction for the Noroeste Paulista Lot Highway System (EcoNoroeste), composed of five stretches of highways in the interior region of São Paulo, running through the towns of São José do Rio Preto, Araraquara, São Carlos and Barretos, including SP 310 (Washington Luís Highways), totaling 601 km. This concession is an important logistics corridor for transporting agricultural products and fertilizers, and includes stretches used to transport fuel, machinery and equipment and construction materials. EcoNoroeste started operations and toll collection on May 1, 2023.
Today, EcoRodovias is one Brazil’s leading infrastructure companies, with around 4,900 employees, operating 11 highway concessions totaling over 4,700 km1 and one port asset, with a footprint spanning the main commercial corridors across eight states in the country.
1) Considers stretch of 158.2 km to be operated by EcoNoroeste as of March, 2025.
Note:
(1) Adjusted financial data consolidated by EcoRodovias, considering only toll road assets (100%). Figures exclude construction revenues.