A consortium made up of global airport operator Vinci Airports and Japanese financial services firm Orix has been selected as the preferred bidder for the 44-year operating concession for Kansai and Osaka International airports in Japan.
The consortium will now look to establish a new concessionaire company by the end of 2015, with Vinci and Orix each holding a 40% shareholding. The remaining 20% will belong to a number of minority shareholders.
The funding plan for the concession is ¥260bn (US$2.1bn), with ¥80bn (US$648m) being paid out of shareholder contributions. The new concession company is scheduled to take over operations for both airports at the end of March 2016.
Kansai and Osaka International airports welcomed 34.6 million passengers between them in the fiscal year 2014/15, an increase of 7.4% when compared with the previous year. The increase has been attributed to the growing popularity of Japanese tourism and the development of low-cost carriers throughout the country.
With this new acquisition, Vinci Airports will manage a total of 27 airports and more than 100 million passengers annually.