Brazil raises $600 mln in privatization auction of 22 airports (updated)

Corporacion America Airports SA

07/04/2021 16:15

(Adds comments of CCR CEO, infrastructure minister)
    By Aluisio Alves and Alberto Alerigi
    SAO PAULO, April 7 (Reuters) - Brazil on Wednesday auctioned
22 airports, raising 3.3 billion reais ($593.11 million), with
the largest group of airports won by infrastructure company CCR
 CCRO3.SA , part of a wave of privatizations that the government
is pushing. 
    "We had an extraordinary result in this auction, despite the
fact that the COVID pandemic strongly affected all airports",
said Brazil's Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio de Freitas after
the auction ended.
    Brazil is auctioning airports as the air travel industry
undergoes one of its worst crisis in history. The pandemic
brought air travel to a standstill last year and while it has
been recovering in developed countries like the United States,
flight demand in Brazil has been weakened recently by a brutal
second wave. 
    Brazilian infrastructure company CCR won licenses to operate
the two largest blocks of airports, including the airport of the
southern city of Curitiba. 
    The auction raised a similar amount of money as a previous
airport auction in 2019, when the auction of a single group of
airports in Brazil's northeast raised $500 million. 
    Freitas said the government was focusing more on how much
winners would invest than in value paid to government.
    CCR will operate 15 airports, nine in south Brazil, for
which it bid 2.1 billion reais ($382 million), and six in the 
central region, with a 754 million reais ($135 million) bid. 
    CCR Chief Executive Marcos Cauduro said the company will bid
on the next privatization auctions and that has a 5 billion-real
cash position, enough to pay for the licenses acquired on
Wednesday.    
    France's Vinci Airports  SGEF.PA  agreed to pay 420 million
reais ($75.3 million) to operate seven airports in the northern
region. 
    Among the companies that placed losing bids were Spain's
Aena  AENA.MC , Argentina's Corporacion America Airports
 CAAP.N  and funds managed by asset managers Patria Investments
 PAX.O  and XP Inc  XP.O . 
    

($1 = 5.5639 reais)

 (Reporting by Aluisio Alves and Alberto Alerigi Jr
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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