Argentina's Corporacion America seeks Brazil airport deals

Argentina's Corporacion America plans to participate in bidding on international airport concessions in the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte in September, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.

Brazil is scrambling to upgrade its inefficient, dilapidated and overcrowded airports before it hosts the 32-nation World Cup next year, which is expected to draw more than half a million soccer fans to South America's economic powerhouse.

Corporacion America's CEO, Eduardo Eurnekian, said his company and Brazilian construction firm Engevix run the airports in Brasilia and Natal, and they plan to partner with another Brazilian company to improve their chances on the Rio and Belo Horizonte concessions.

"In this latest call for bids, Brazilian authorities are being a bit more demanding. It's clear they want ... to expand the range of companies that get involved in this business," Eurnekian told the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit.

"We should include another partner to satisfy the new bidding specifications. We're in advanced talks," he said, declining to name the company.

The bidding specifications should be unveiled next week, a top Brazilian civil aviation official said on Wednesday.

The plan to modernize Rio de Janeiro's Galeao airport, the country's second-largest, and Belo Horizonte's Confins airport should attract 11.4 billion reais ($5.48 billion) in bids from private companies, officials said in December.

Corporacion America operates nearly 50 airports in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Italy and Armenia. It does business in other sectors as well, including finance, agriculture, technology, energy and vineyards.

With regard to renovations at the Brasilia airport, Eurnekian said he was confident that Inframerica - the consortium comprised of Corporacion America and Engevix - would finish in time for the World Cup games.

Eurnekian said Brazilian authorities took some time before awarding the operating license, which he said is typical in any country, and the regulators also have to carry out their duties.

"All of this creates nervousness (about the time frame). But we're conscious of this situation, and I think we'll end up complying in a timely manner. I don't think there will be any problems," Eurnekian said during the summit, speaking at his office in Buenos Aires.



The executive added that his company also plans to participate in bidding on airport concessions in Greece and Turkey.