Spain kicks off €2.6bn sale of airport assets
SPAIN has kicked off the privatisation of its airports and related assets by appointing RBS to advise on its sale.
The mandate includes offloading the state’s 49 per cent stake in AENA Aeropuertos, a holding company established for the privatisation that is valued at around €5bn (£4.4bn).
Among AENA’s assets, which include 47 airports, are Madrid’s Barajas airport and Barcelona’s El Prat airport. RBS fought off competition from eight other investment banks to win the advisory role.
The government also announced that it has received bids from six companies to take over the running of its air traffic control towers, a licence sale that is expected to bring in around €18.9m.
The issue has proved explosive, with a strike by air traffic controllers over the sale causing Spain to declare a state of emergency earlier this year and put its airports under military control.
The sales will help Madrid towards its target of cutting its budget deficit down to six per cent of GDP this year, compared to 9.2 per cent last year.
However, the government has faced weeks of sustained protests against its austerity measures and labour market reforms, with 100,000 coming on to the streets yesterday.
The country’s unemployment rate is over 20 per cent.