Northern Central Airports Group

active

In 2000, the Mexican government sold a 15% stake of Grupo Aeropuertuario del Centro Norte (GACN) to Servicios de Tecnología Aeroportuaria (SETA) for US$91.4 million. GACN, also known Operadora Mexicana de Aeropuertos (OMA), was incorporated as a wholly-owned entity of the federal government in 1998 and was granted a 50 year concession contract to operate, maintain and upgrade thirteen airports in the northern-central region of Mexico (Acapulco, Cuidad de Juarez, Chihuahua, Culiacan, Durango, Mazatlan, Monterrey, Reynosa, San Luis de Potosi, Tampico, Torreon, Zacatecas, Zihuatanejo). The northern-central airports handle 10 million passengers per year in 1998. In 2000, SETA was owned by Vinci Airports SA (37.25%), ICA SA de CV (37.25%) and Aéroports de Paris (25.5%). In January 2006, ICA acquired Vinci Airport’s share in SETA and an additional 36% stake in GACN from the Federal government for US$203.3 million, effectively purchasing 44.94% of GACN. Such an acquisition was contemplated under the initial privatization scheme, which gave Seta the option to purchase a 36% stake in GACN in the fourth year of privatization anniversary. The sale was subject to certain conditions. With its combined share in SETA and GACN, ICA controlled a total of 47.2% of the shares in GACN. Under the privatization scheme, SETA was ensured the control of GACN through a 15 year technical-assistance agreement which granted to SETA the management and consulting services to GACN in exchange for a fee. The technical-assistance agreement could be renewed for another 15 year. SETA consortium started operating the airports by December 2000. Under GANC’s concession contract, the company was required to submit an updated master development plan for approval by the Secretary of communications and Transportation (STC) every five years. Each master development plan covered a fifteen-year period and includes investment commitments for the regulated part of our business (including certain capital expenditures and improvements) for the succeeding five-year period and investment projections for the regulated part of our business (including certain capital expenditures and improvements) for the remaining ten years. Once approved by the STC, these commitments became binding obligations under the terms of our concessions. Committed investments were minimum requirements. The sponsors invested US$128million (1,300 million pesos) in the first 5 years of the project, and committed to invest US$139 million (1,454 million pesos) in the 2006-2010 period. In November 2006, the Mexican government sold 41% of its stake in GCNA in an IPO which contributed approximately US $376 million to government coffers. Shares were sold on the NASDAQ Stock Market and the Mexican Stock Exchange. The 41% IPO + 51% previously sold to private investors makes GCNA a 92% privately owned and operated company. http://www.oma.bz/ES/QuienesSomos.asp In 2006, ICA announced it had acquired Vinci’s share in SETA as well as 36% of GACN’s shares owned by the Federal Government. Thus, as of 2006, GACN was owned by SETA (15%), ICA (36%) and the Federal Government –through Nacional Financiera- (49%). ICA paid US$57 million for SETA’s shares and US$203.3 million for the GACN’s shares. To complete the acquisition, ICA relied on a US$125 million bridge loan from the German banks West LB and Nord LB, interal refinancing and share placement. -> thus in 2006: %private = 51% inv. in gov assets = 203.3; and com. inv in fac = 36.51 Commited investment 2006-2010 (million pesos): 2006 - 382.8 2007 - 366.4 2008 - 381.4 2009 - 235 2010 - 89.1