Portugal Gets Bids of up to EUR2.6 Billion for Airport Operator

By Carla Canivete

Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

The Portuguese government Thursday said it has short-listed five bidders for the privatization of its airport operator ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal SA, after receiving proposals of up to EUR2.6 billion.

Bids came from French construction company and highway operator Vinci SA (DG.FR), Zurich airport operator Flughafen Zuerich AG (FHZN.EB), German airport operator Fraport AG (FRA.XE), Argentine airport operator Corporacion America and Colombia's Odinsa, with some of them heading consortiums. The companies must present binding offers by mid-December.

In a news conference after the government's weekly cabinet meeting, Portugal's Treasury Secretary Maria Luis Albuquerque said some bids represented "12 to 13 times" the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2011.

The average multiple of recent deals in the sector, according to government and airline officials, is eight times 2011 Ebitda.

The sale is part of a series of privatizations Portugal has submitted to secure a EUR78 billion bailout package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

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