Economy 8 February 2024, 10:01am

Hungarian state may purchase 80% share in Budapest Airport - portal

Portfolio

The Hungarian state and France's Vinci Airports could buy the shares of Budapest Airport's operator in a 80%-20% split. The state has already earmarked the funds for the acquisition, news portal 24.hu reported on Thursday. Later, however, they could involve Qatari investors, with the state's ownership shrinking to 51%.

Based on a resolution by the owners, it seems that Hungary's state-owned Corvinus International Investment Ltd. and French Vinci will acquire the shares of Budapest Airport's parent company, Aiport Holding Consulting Ltd., in a ratio of 80:20 percent, and the state has already allocated the necessary funds, 24.hu reported. It added that by the subsequent involvement of Qatari investors the state's stake in Budapest Airport may be reduced to 51%.

The founding decision of the Ministry of National Economy, which oversees Corvinus, revealed that 848.8 million euros, or about 328.5 billion forints, have been transferred to the company's account, which will allow the state to purchase 80% of the shares of Airport Holding Consulting Ltd., the parent company of Budapest Airport.

Based on the EUR 4 billion purchase price calculated by Bloomberg, and assuming that the former privatisation price of the airport also requires a loan of about HUF 1.5 billion, the total purchase price for the entire share package could be around EUR 2.5 billion, of which 80% would be EUR 2 billion, or about HUF 774 billion forints at the current exchange rate.

At this point it is unclear how large a stake the state may sell to the Qatari investors after the 80:20 share purchase with Vinci.

As of now, 55.44% of Budapest Airport Zrt.’s shares are owned by AviAlliance, a German-based company that manages several airports. Another 23.33% belongs to Malton, a subsidiary of the Singaporean state-owned GIC investment fund, and 21.23% is in the hands of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a Canadian pension fund. AviAlliance is headquartered in Düsseldorf and is owned by the Canadian Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments).

24.hu reported in December 2023 that all three owners split their shareholdings into three parts, as follows:

AviAlliance: 28.28%, 16.08%, 11.09%;
Malton: 11.9%, 6.77%, 4.67%;
Caisse de dépôt: 10.83%, 6.16%, 4.24%.

Economy Minister Márton Nagy confirmed that the Hungarian state would have the majority, talking about 51%, but he did not give any details about the minority. However, the splitting of the shareholding packages suggests that the other two investors will hold 29% (possibly the Qataris) and 20% (possibly Vinci), respectively.

At the moment, however, it cannot be ruled out that the deal will be linked to the investment in a third terminal, rather than a simple share purchase.