HUNGARY. VINCI Airports, a subsidiary of VINCI Concessions, and Hungarian State-owned investment fund Corvinus have jointly signed and closed the acquisition of the Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport concession company.
The consortium of sellers was made up of AviAlliance, Malton and CDPQ.
The 100% equity value of the transaction is €3.1 billion (US$3.38 billion), plus net debt of €1.2 billion (US$1.31 million). The airport’s EBITDA for 2023 was €211 million (US$230 million).
VINCI Airports and Corvinus purchased Budapest Airport on a pro rata basis and rolled over the existing debt of the company.
On completion of the transaction, Corvinus will own 80% of the concession company and VINCI Airports 20%, with the latter becoming the airport operator. The residual term of the concession is more than 55 years (expiring in 2080).
In 2023, Budapest Airport passenger traffic reached 16 million passengers, 90% of the pre-COVID-19 level. In the first four months of 2024 it exceeded 2019 traffic by more than +8% and 2023 traffic by +19%.
VINCI Airports noted the airport has a positive outlook, particularly in view of tourism development planned for the country.
As the platform operator, VINCI Airports will manage the platform and deploy its model, which aims to “improve the customer experience and support traffic growth through appropriate investment”.
An ambitious action plan will also be rolled out to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.
Through this acquisition, VINCI Airports, which has operations in Portugal, the UK, France and Serbia, is building its network in Europe, which now covers 26 platforms that served nearly 154 million passengers in 2023. ✈
