The new Spanish airport holding company Aena Airports is set to disclose this week which competing groups have advanced to the next stage in the battle to take over the country's two main hubs.
Six potential bidders from a total of seven consortia submitted pre-qualification documents bidding for Madrid Barajas and Barcelona El Prat. Spain's government is selling 90.05% stakes in both airports.
Five consortia are bidding for both airports, while a group led by Grupo San José is bidding solely for Madrid and a group led by Abertis Airports is bidding only for Barcelona.
The five groups bidding for both airports are led by BAA owner Ferrovial, India's GMR Infrastructure, Changi Airports International, Aéroports de Paris and Frankfurt Main operator Fraport.
Fraport is bidding in cooperation with Spanish construction firm Acciona, said the German company, adding that if qualification is accepted, the next stage will be to prepare the bid.
The management contracts for Madrid and Barcelona are for 20 years and can be extended by a further five. The government said in July that it expected the sale of Madrid to raise €3.7bn ($5.2bn) and the sale of Barcelona to raise €1.6bn.
Successful bidders will have to pay fees of 20% of revenue annually.
Source: Flight International
