Quintana Roo Demands $3.7B From Aguakan

Mexico City — The conflict between the Government of Quintana Roo and the company Desarrollos Hidráulicos de Cancún, known as DHC-Aguakan, has escalated after the firm informed the Mexican Stock Exchange that it was notified of a tax credit for 3,758 million pesos derived from operations carried out in 2019.

According to a statement released by the company to the stock exchange, state authorities are demanding payment of this amount, which Aguakan considers "unconstitutional and in violation of the fiscal provisions of the State of Quintana Roo." The company stated it will challenge the requirement through legal channels.

The claim from the Quintana Roo government represents a sum equivalent to 95 percent of the income reported by the company in 2024, according to calculations by Bloomberg Línea, and emerges at a key moment for Aguakan, which will have to face the maturity of a 1,400 million peso bond certificate issuance in 2026. The issuance was made in 2022.

Aguakan, controlled by Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo and GBM Infraestructura, maintains that the tax credit contradicts previous rulings by the Administrative Court of Justice of Quintana Roo.

This new legal front adds to the conflict the company has with the state government over the extension of its concession until 2053, which was granted in 2014 and which current authorities consider irregular. The state administration announced its decision to revoke said concession, which led the company to request a procedure before the International Chamber of Commerce last July.

The case even reached the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, which declined to hear it, allowing it to continue its course in local courts.