SYDNEY, April 30 (Reuters) - Spain's Ferrovial FER.MC said it won't offer in future the service of running Australia's controversial offshore detention centres for refugees and asylum seekers, after buying a controlling stake in the Australian firm that operates the centres.
Australia's detention of refugees and asylum seekers in offshore detention centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru has previously drawn criticism from the United Nations.
In a statement on Friday, Ferrovial said the company had completed a buyout of 59 percent of shares in Australia-listed Broadspectrum (BRS) .
On Wednesday, Papua New Guinea's high court ruled that the Broadspectrum-run detention centre in Manus Island housing more than 800 Australia-bound refugees was unlawful and the country's government said it would shut the camp.
"In relation to the provision of services at the regional processing centres in Nauru and Manus province, these services were not a core part of the valuation and the acquisition rationale of the offer, and it is not a strategic activity in Ferrovial's portfolio," the company said in a statement.
"Ferrovial's view is that this activity will not form part of its services offering in the future".
It did not elaborate.
