South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has concluded negotiations for the acquisition of a 20% stake in state-owned airports operator Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) at a cost of R1,675-billion, the two companies announced on Wednesday.
The PIC, which is also owned by the government, manages funds on behalf of government employees. The stake is being purchased on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) — the PIC’s largest client — and will be acquired from Italian airports company Aeroporti di Roma.
Acsa, which owns and operates South Africa’s nine principal airports, is the largest airports company on the African continent. Together, Acsa-operated airports handle more than 400 000 aircraft movements and more than 24-million passengers annually.
The PIC said that, as one of the world’s leading airports companies with good returns and positive long-term growth prospects, Acsa is an attractive investment for the GEPF.
Additionally, the transaction offers the GEPF an opportunity to increase its property investments and provides certainty to Acsa as it implements its strategic capital expenditure projects ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. — I-Net Bridge