Bulgaria gets five bids in Sofia airport tender

Copenhagen Airports A/S

11/04/2019 16:11

SOFIA, April 11 (Reuters) - Airport operators from Britain,
Germany, France and Denmark filed bids to run and operate Sofia
Airport, Bulgaria's main air hub, in a tender for a 35-year
concession, the transport ministry said on Thursday.
    The Balkan country is looking to raise 550 million euros 
($619 million) from the concession, 280 million of which should
come in an upfront payment. The transport ministry will open the
bids on May 9 and is expected to pick a winner shortly after.
    Britain's largest airport operator, Manchester Airports
Group, in a tie-up with China's construction firm BCEG placed a
bid. Germany's Fraport  FRAG.DE , the operator of Frankfurt
airport, as well as a consortium between asset manager Meridiam
and the operator of Munich Airport, Flughafen Muenchen, also
filed offers, the ministry said.
    The other two contenders include a consortium led by
France's Aeroports de Paris  ADP.PA  and a tie-up between
Copenhagen Airports  KBHL.CO  and SSB Sauernwein & Schaefer.
    The successful candidate would have to invest about 600
million euros and build a new passenger terminal at the airport
that transported over 7 million people and handled over 22,000
tonnes of cargo last year.
($1 = 0.8882 euros)

 (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova. Editing by Jane Merriman)
 ((tsvetelia.tsolova@thomsonreuters.com; +359 2 93 99 731))