TAV Attracts More Interest

French listed construction and concessions company Vinci is interested in buying a near 40 percent stake in Turkish airport operator Havalimanlari Holding, writes Reuters. Sources close to the deal told Reuters last week that Vinci and a partnership between US private equity firm Carlyle Group and the Qatar Investment Authority were leading bidders for the stake.

Reuters – Vinci, France’s largest listed construction and concessions company, is interested in buying a near 40 percent stake in Turkish airport operator Havalimanlari Holding, or TAV, Vinci’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

Sources close to the deal told Reuters last week that Vinci and a partnership between U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) were the leading bidders for the stake.

“We are at the beginning of the process concerning the airport assets of a Turkish company called TAV,” Xavier Huillard said in a meeting with analysts on Vinci’s 2011 results. “So we are also in this competition.”

Huillard said Vinci was particularly interested in TAV’s Istanbul airport assets, but declined to elaborate, citing confidentiality accords.

Asked about German construction firm Hochtief’s airport business, for which Vinci has expressed interest in bidding, Xavier said the process was closed.

Hochtief put the auction on ice last month after failing to sell the unit in 2011. (Gilles Guillaume; Editing by David Holmes)