Manchester Airports proposes to build stadium as part of bid for Sofia airport concession

Copenhagen Airports A/S

22/05/2019 20:57

SOFIA, May 22 (Reuters) - Britain's largest airport
operator, Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said it has proposed
building a 600-million-euro ($670 million) stadium as part of
its bid for a 35-year concession to operate Sofia Airport,
Bulgaria's biggest hub.
    MAG is bidding in the tender in a tie-up with Chinese
construction firm BCEG. It said in a statement on Wednesday that
a multifunctional arena would boost Bulgaria's chances of
staging the 2024 Youth Winter Olympics as the country prepares a
bid to host the Games.
    MAG also said that the national stadium could increase the
Balkans' chances of hosting the 2030 soccer World Cup. Bulgaria,
Greece, Serbia and Romania have already announced a joint bid to
host the tournament.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1YH58A 
    Five airport operators and investors from Britain, Germany,
France and Denmark bid in the Sofia Airport tender and a
consortium led by France's Aeroports de Paris (ADP)  ADP.PA 
offered the highest concession fee two weeks ago. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N22L4HB
    Bulgaria is looking to secure 550 million euros for the
35-year concession - including fees of 7.7 million euros a year,
plus a 280 million euro upfront payment.
    It has also asked for an investment of 600 million euros to
cover the building of a third passenger terminal among other
things.
    MAG has already offered to invest 1.29 billion euros if it
wins the concession, including an annual concession fee of 20
million euros a year. The 600 million euro stadium would be an
additional investment on top of that.
    ADP, which has teamed up on the bid with Turkey's TAV
Airports, has offered to invest 903 million euros in the airport
over the duration of the contract, in addition to its annual
concession fee.
    The other three bidders are Germany's Fraport  FRAG.DE ,
which operates Frankfurt airport; a consortium comprising asset
manager Meridiam and the operator of Munich Airport; and a
tie-up between Copenhagen Airports  KBHL.CO  and SSB Sauernwein
& Schaefer.
    Bulgaria's transport ministry plans to pick a winner next
month at the earliest and will assess both the offered fees and
the business development plans for the airport.
    MAG operates Manchester, East Midlands and London's Stansted
airports. It is owned by Australian pension fund IFM Investors
and a group of regional councils around Manchester.
    "We are happy to be able to make this offer to the residents
of Sofia as part of our bid for Sofia Airport," Graeme Ferguson,
corporate development director for MAG, said in a statement
about the stadium proposal.

    
($1 = 0.8961 euros)

 (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((angel.krasimirov@thomsonreuters.com; +359 888 695 510;))