France’s ADP to Close Strategic Deal with Vietnam’s Top Airport Developer in March

Aeróports de Paris is expected to close a deal to acquire a strategic stake in Airports Corporation of Vietnam in March.


                                  A view of Noi Bai airport, run by ACV. Photo: chinhphu.vn

Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the country’s top airport developer, is expected to sell a strategic stake to Aeróports de Paris (ADP) in March as the government is striving to speed up the corporate privatization.

ADP, which runs Charles de Gaulle International Airport and Orly Airport, was the first company to express interest in becoming a strategic investor in ACV after the Vietnamese developer announced its privatization plan.

The French airport operator has beaten a number of rivals, including Singapore’s Changi Airport International and Hanoi-based Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), to become the sole candidate for strategic investor of ACV.

According its privatization plan, ACV, which has a registered capital of 21.77 trillion dong ($963 million), will sell a 20% stake to its strategic investor. The government will retain a 75% stake in the company.

ACV now operates 22 civil airports in Vietnam, including the two largest facilities in the country, Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airport. It is the investor of the Long Thanh International Airport project that will have an estimated cost of nearly $16 billion.

ACV debuted its shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), a secondary market operated by the Hanoi Stock Exchange, on November 21, 2016 at a starting price of 25,000 dong apiece. Since then, its stock has risen 93.6% to 48,400 dong a share at 11:00 am on Jan. 10.

Tuan Minh / BizLIVE