AEV teams up with French firm to vie for 5 airport projects

CONGLOMERATE Aboitiz Equity Ventures has teamed up with France-based international airport infrastructure provider VINCI Airports to vie for five regional airport infrastructure projects offered under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

AEV disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday that it had submitted pre-qualification documents to the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) for the bidding of the operation, maintenance and expansion of airports in Davao, Laguindigan, Bohol (new airport), Iloilo and Bacolod.

The Aboitiz family-led conglomerate said it intended to participate in these PPP project bidding through a group referred to as the “Maya Consortium,” in partnership with VINCI Airports, which manages and operates 24 airports in three countries: France, Portugal and Cambodia. Together, these handle a total of almost 47 million passengers a year.

AEV is getting aggressively into infrastructure as the fifth leg of its core businesses after power, banking, food and property development. It has committed to invest about P24 billion to enter the cement manufacturing business via its partnership with UK-listed CRH plc to acquire the Philippine cement operations of Lafarge S.A. The investment in cement manufacturing is seen in line with this foray into big-ticket infrastructure.