Ashmore lands Bogota airport concessions

A fund managed by Ashmore Colombia, part of Ashmore Group, has taken an 85% stake in El Dorado Airport runway concessions.

Private equity manager Ashmore Colombia has acquired an 85 percent interest in Compañía de Desarollo Aeropuerto Eldorado (Codad), the concessionaire of two runways at El Dorado Airport in Bogota, the capital of Colombia.

The stake has been bought from Abertis Infraestructuras, the Spanish infrastructure operator, for a total consideration of COP132 billion (€49 million; $66 million). Abertis has also today acquired an additional 6 percent stake in Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican toll road concessionaire (see other story).

Codad was established in 1995 to deliver the concession contract for the construction of a second runway at El Dorado Airport, and to provide maintenance for both of the airport’s runways.

El Dorado is Colombia’s largest airport and carries the third-highest number of passengers in Latin America, with 22.5 million passengers in 2012 It is also the busiest airport for cargo traffic in the region.

“The acquisition of Codad is a significant transaction for us,” said Camilo Villaveces, president and chief executive officer of Ashmore Colombia, in a statement. “The considerable growth in international traffic witnessed at El Dorado International Airport underlines the attractiveness of this sector that we believe offers potential across the Andean region.”

The deal is the eighth completed by Ashmore Colombia since it launched in 2010. The fund, which has an office in Bogota, is a subsidiary of emerging markets investment specialist Ashmore Group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and had $75.3 billion under management at the end of last year.