Megawide GMR closes sale of Cebu airport to Aboitiz Group

Tycoon Edgar Saavedra’s Megawide Construction Corp. completed the sale of the Mactan Cebu International Airport to the Aboitiz Group as part of a strategic pivot to other transportation projects and data centers.

The P25-billion deal allows Aboitiz subsidiary Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. to take full ownership of the airport venture known as GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. by 2024.

Megawide and partner GMR Infrastructure received P9.5 billion after selling a third of the project to Aboitiz, a statement on Friday showed.

They simultaneously issued exchangeable notes to Aboitiz InfraCapital worth P15.5 billion. These will mature in Oct. 30, 2024 and will be converted to the remaining shares of the airport venture, giving Aboitiz full ownership.

Megawide-GMR redeveloped the Cebu Airport and turned it into a world-class gateway after winning the Public Private Partnership project in 2014.

“We are excited to finally consummate this transaction that will clear the runway for [GMR Megawide Airport’s] next chapter, as well as accelerate Megawide’s long-term growth aspirations. We are also looking forward to unlocking more opportunities with this venture as we continuously re-engineer our portfolio towards achieving a first-world Philippines,” said Saavedra, who is chair and CEO of Megawide.

Megawide, one of the country’s top construction and engineering firms, said it would diversify to more “cycle-resilient, scalable, and higher growth segments.”

“The company initially bared its intention to build several transit-centric developments in key locations across the country and ride the information technology wave through its foray into data centers,” it said in the statement on Friday.