ASUR Buys 20 Airports in $939M Deal

The Brazilian infrastructure and transport company Motiva has announced the sale of the twenty airports it manages to the Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) for an amount of 5 billion reais, equivalent to 939.4 million dollars. This operation encompasses terminals in Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Curaçao.

The agreement includes all of Motiva’s shares in the Compañía de Participación en Concesiones (CPC), which brings together the entirety of the company’s airport assets both in Brazil and abroad. Among the airports included are the Mariscal Sucre in Quito, the Juan Santamaría in Costa Rica, and the Willemstad in Curaçao, in addition to terminals in Brazilian capitals such as Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Goiânia, Palmas, Teresina, and São Luís.

In total, the 17 Brazilian airports and the three international ones mobilized 45 million passengers last year, according to the latest balance from Motiva. Also part of the package are terminals located in relevant tourist destinations such as Foz do Iguaçu, Navegantes, and Joinville.

According to the market statement, the direct buyer is the Cancún Airport, one of ASUR’s subsidiaries. The group currently operates nine terminals in Mexico, among them those in Cancún, Cozumel, Mérida, and Oaxaca, in addition to the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico.

Motiva specified that the operation is still subject to approval from the regulatory bodies of each country involved, as well as adjustments that must be made before the final closing. The agreement also stipulates that ASUR will assume the current debts of the CPC.

The Brazilian company indicated that this divestment is aligned with its Strategic Plan, which bets on simplifying its portfolio and concentrating on profitable and selective projects linked to highways and railway transport. Motiva is one of the main concessionaires of highways, airports, and ports in Brazil, as well as a relevant operator of trains and metro.

The firm had already indicated in May its intention to divest its airport assets and since then had maintained negotiations with different interested parties, among them the Spanish group Aena and Argentina’s Corporación América Airports (CAAP).