Government raises R$ 320 million in new auction for Natal Airport

The São Gonçalo do Amarante Airport (ASGA), which serves the municipality of Natal (RN) and the surrounding region, was auctioned on May 19 at the B3 headquarters for R$ 320 million, representing a premium of 41% over the minimum bid of R$ 226.9 million initially established. The asset was acquired by Zurich Airport International after a long dispute, bid by bid, with the bidder NK 230 Empreendimentos e Participações.

This is the first re-auction of an infrastructure asset granted in the country, and represented a positive test for the Federal Government, which will pay the difference between the amount offered by the bidder and the compensation to be paid to the current concessionaire for the investments made and not yet amortized.

ASGA was the first airport to be awarded, in 2011, under the federal program of airport concessions. The new contract to be signed will last 30 years.

“Auctioning again an asset recently granted, but now within a more modern and efficient model for the air transport sector, is a source of pride for ANAC and for the sector, especially when we see that the market has understood the purpose of the granting authority: a partnership that seeks gains for society as a whole, with efficient airports and more passengers served. This new concession will be very important to leverage business and jobs in Rio Grande do Norte and the Northeast,” said the Director-President of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Tiago Pereira, at B3.

Located in the municipality of São Gonçalo do Amarante, ASGA is 18 kilometers from the Port of Natal and 30 kilometers from the center of the capital Natal. The terminal is located near the roads that connect Rio Grande do Norte to the capitals of Paraíba (João Pessoa) and Pernambuco (Recife). Newly built, the infrastructure will not require large investments during the concession period. Currently, the airport has capacity for 6 million passengers per year.

The re-bidding of Natal Airport counted with the competition of two qualified bidders. The bidding process started at 10am and was concluded around 11am, after 40 minutes of viva voce bidding.

Check out, below, the list with all the bidders who participated in the ASGA auction: 

Qualification and homologation          

The next step in the ASGA re-auctioning, on May 26, was the receipt of the qualification documents from the winning bidder. The signature of the new concession contract will occur after the homologation of the result by ANAC’s board of directors, on a date yet to be defined. Check out the schedule events:

Initial Contribution and Indemnity

The main change in the draft notice for the ASGA re-auctioning process in relation to the previous bidding rounds refers to the change in the form of payment of the initial contribution. The start of the new partnership contract is conditioned to the payment to the current concessionaire of the indemnity due.           

In addition to the initial contribution to be paid upon signing the contract, the new concessionaire must also pay a variable fee on gross revenues, established at increasing percentages calculated from the 5th to the 9th year of the contract, becoming constant thereafter until the end of the concession (see table below with the percentages).

The mechanism seeks to adapt the contract to the demand and revenue oscillations during the concession. The values projected for the contract include an estimated revenue of R$ 1.32 billion for the entire concession.

Stages of the re-auction

The adhesion to the re-auctioning process is a voluntary act and consists in the friendly return of the asset, followed by a new auction and the signing of a concession contract with the new winning concessionaire. It is a mechanism that brings legal security to the contracts and allows for the continuity of service provision.

ASGA was qualified under the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI) in August 2020, by Decree 10,472/2020. With the signature of the Additive Term of the re-auction, the contractual relations between the granting authority and the current concessionaire were established until the transfer of the asset to the new concessionaire.

In March 2021, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) approved Public Consultation No. 2/2021, which received contributions regarding the draft notice, the concession contract and the Technical, Economic and Environmental Feasibility Studies (EVTEA) of ASGA. In April of that year, a virtual public hearing was held for those interested in participating in the auction.

In February 2023, the ANAC board approved, in an unprecedented manner, the ASGA re-auction notice, demonstrating that the re-auction institute, made possible by Law No. 13,448, of June 5, 2017, and Decree No. 9,957, of August 6, 2019, is viable and has the potential to ensure the continuity of Brazilian infrastructure development.

On April 19 of this year, ANAC and B3 held the public clarification session for the ASGA auction, aimed at presenting the dynamics of the contest to bidders, investors and other interested parties, to be adopted on the day of the auction. To access the full meeting, just click on the video of the event on ANAC’s official channel.

For more information about the new tender process of the São Gonçalo do Amarante Airport, please visit the ASGA’s Follow-up of the Re-auction page (available in Portuguese only).