São Paulo – The Inframérica consortium, comprising the Brazilian company Infravix, of the Engevix group, and the Argentinean Corporacion América, won the concession auction for the São Gonçalo do Amarante Airport, in the metropolitan area of Natal, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, this Monday morning (22nd). This is the first time that the federal government awards the building and operation of an airport to the private initiative under a concession regime.
Inframérica won the auction, held in the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), with a final bid of 170 million reals (US$ 106.1 million), with a premium of 228.82% above the minimum bid, which was 51.7 million reals (US$ 32.2 million). The consortium will pay the amount to the government for the concession.
The victory came after a close run with consortium Aeroportos Brasil, comprised of MPE Montagens and Instituto de Transportes Aéreos do Brasil (Brazilian Air Transport Institute), whose final bid was 166 million reals (US$ 103.6 million). Nearly 90 bids were placed by the two groups. The auction lasted short of an hour.
From the start, however, Inframérica, represented by brokerage firm BES Securities do Brasil, placed the highest bid, at 132.5 million reals (US$ 82.7 million); followed by Aeroportos Brasil, represented by brokerage firm Safra, with a bid of 75 million reals (US$ 46.8 million); the ATP Contratec consortium, represented by brokerage Souza Barros, with a bid of 62 million reals (US$ 38.7 million); and Aeroleste Potiguar, represented by brokerage firm Planner, which placed a minimum bid of 51.7 million reals (US$ 32.2 million).
“We are completely at peace with the premium we have paid today,” said the Infravix CEO, José Antunes Sobrinho, at a press conference. “We are not willing to throw our money away,” he added, showing confidence in the profitability of the deal.
According to him, the Engevix group already boasts vast experience in airport terminal construction, whereas Corporacion América specializes in management; the latter operates 46 airports. According to the Argentinean company’s representative, Martin Eurnekian, it manages terminals in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Armenia and Italy.
One of the main concerns regarding the enterprise is whether it will be completed before the 2014 FIFA World Cup, of which Natal will be one of the host cities. The bid sets the maximum period for construction at 36 months, whereas the World Cup will take place in June and July, that is, before the deadline. Antunes claimed, however, that the consortium intends to carry out the works “as fast as possible,” in response to being urged by the state governor Rosalba Ciarlini.
“It is in our interest for [the airport] to be ready at the peak traffic [period] (the Cup),” said the executive. “Commercially speaking, this is important to us,” he said. “We are committed to having Brazil’s best-looking airport ready for the World Cup,” added Eurnekian.
The first stage of the project, precisely the one that should be ready in time for the Cup, should receive investment ranging from 350 million to 370 million reals (US$ 218.6 million to 231 million), according to Antunes. He highlighted that the consortium is expecting to obtain 70% of that figure in financing from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). “We are going to our dear BNDES and then we will start the works,” he said.
The minister at the Civil Aviation Secretariat, Wagner Bittencourt, stated that the auction was “a huge display of the private sector’s willingness and trust in Brazilian airports.” “It was a sign sent out to the world by a country that invests and prepares itself for the future,” he said.
The governor stated that the airport “is a dream” that the state has dragged along for 14 years. The track was built by the federal government, but the terminal in itself was not. She underscored that the work is part of a set of investment in Rio Grande do Norte that should reach 35 billion reals (US$ 21.8 billion) within a four-year period, including wind energy projects, oil projects by Petrobras, World Cup infrastructure works, basic sanitation and irrigated agriculture.
The mayor of São Gonçalo do Amarante, Carlos Eduardo Pereira Duarte, added that in the future, the terminal will be an “airport-city,” including hotels, industry and trade, which will earn its operators revenues that do not involve airport tariffs.
Three more
Bittencourt stressed that before the end of the year, concession auctions should be held for the airports of Guarulhos, Campinas and Brasília. “We are hoping to attract lots of bidders, that the success will be even bigger,” added the president of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), Marcelo Pacheco dos Guaranys.
These three airports are among the largest in the country, with huge traffic volumes, unlike the terminal in Rio Grande do Norte, which does not exist yet. In the former, there is a need for expansion. The model has not been fully defined yet, but it is known that the state-owned Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company (Infraero) will retain a 49% share in each, and initially there should be no restriction on foreign capital.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
