GVK to increase shareholding in MIAL to 50.5%

GVK Airport Holdings Private Limited (GAHPL), a step down subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure Limited, on Wednesday signed a share purchase agreement with Bid Services Division (Mauritius) Limited (?BSDM?) to buy a 13.5 % stake in Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL).

As a result, the equity shareholding of the GVK in MIAL will increase to 50.5% from the existing 37% after acquiring 10,80,00,000 equity shares.

This agreement is subject to regulatory and other approvals. MIAL is a Public Private Partnership joint venture between GVK, BSDM, ACSA Global and Airports Authority of India (AAI).

MIAL was awarded the mandate for operating and modernizing the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai (CSIA) in April 2006.

Upon completion of this transaction, GVK will lead the consortium with a stake of 50.5%, BSDM will hold a 13.5% stake, ACSA Global 10% and AAI the remaining 26% in MIAL.

Speaking on the occasion, G V Krishna Reddy, Chairman, GVKPIL said: ?As part of our overall stated objective of consolidating our presence in the airports sector in India, we have taken this significant step of increasing our shareholding in MIAL. This signifies our commitment to the airports sector and further reinforces our vision of transforming CSIA into a world class airport.?

GVK which operates India?s two key airports – the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai and the Bengaluru International Airport ? has emerged as India?s largest airport operator in the private sector. The two airports together handled passenger traffic of 40 million in the year 2010.

Since taking over airport operations in 2006, MIAL has brought about a number of changes at CSIA with an ongoing focus on passenger convenience and comfort in the long term.

MIAL is currently implementing a master plan which includes building a new integrated passenger terminal at Sahar with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities to cater to passenger traffic of 40 million per annum.