THE CABINET yesterday approved the TwoOne consortium as a strategic partner for Bratislava and Košice airports.
TwoOne includes Vienna Airport, the Slovak private equity group Penta and Austrian bank Raiffeisen Zentralbank. The consortium should thus acquire a 66-percent stake in both airports and pay a total Sk11.42 billion (€305 million) to the state budget, the SITA news agency wrote.
TwoOne offered Sk6 billion (€160 million) for Bratislava airport and Sk900 million (€24 million) for Košice airport. It will also pay an additional Sk4.52 billion (€120 million) from the second round of bidding.
The purchasing contract should be signed by February 28 and the whole transaction should be concluded by mid-August.
However, TwoOne will not become a majority shareholder in both Slovak airports unless the consortium fulfills several deferral terms, including an approval from the Slovak Antitrust Office, which must be issued by August 15, 2006.
If the approval is not issued, the transport minister will submit a proposal to sign a purchasing contract with the rival Abertis-led consortium to the cabinet by September 1, 2006 at the latest.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
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