ITALY. A consortium of Italian clothing group Benetton, Turin airport operator Società Azionaria Gestione Aeroporto di Torino (SAGAT) and local private equity firm NHS, was the only bidder for the 29% stake in the operator of Florence airport, Aeroporto di Firenze, it was reported today.
The stake in Aeroporto di Firenze is jointly held by the town councils and the Chambers of Commerce of Florence and Prato, both in the Tuscany region, central Italy.
Edizione Holding, the unlisted Milan company through which the Benetton family controls the giant Benetton Group, has for some time been aiming to buy stakes in Italian small to midsize airports. Edizione Holding joined forces with SanPaolo IMI Bank to launch a previous bid for Florence airport in 2002. Edizione Holding is the majority stakeholder in travel retail group Autogrill, owner of airport retailer HMSHost.
Far reaching changes within Italy’s airport network have already been underway since 1995 when BAA began its quest for Naples airport authority GESAC and Alitalia sold its stake in Aeroporti di Roma, paving the way for future privatisations, and the strategic investment of Australian group Macquarie Airports.
The deadline for the Aeroporto di Firenze bids was 15 July 2003. Copenhagen Airports and Frankfurt airport group Fraport had also shown interest, but did not table an offer according to reports.
Aeroporto di Firenze posted an operating profit of €160,000 (US$176,000) for the first quarter of 2003, compared to €320,000 (US$352,000) for the same period of 2002, the Italian News Digest reported. The airport operator registered earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €1.49 million (US$1.6 million), compared to €1.47 million ($1.62 million). The company generated a turnover of €5.52 million (US$6.1 million) for the first three months of 2003, up +3.2% from 2002.
