Mavi Boncuk | Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. (MAHB) will buy out the additional 40 percent stake held by minority investors in Istanbul’s second-biggest airport for about 285 million euros ($361 million), the company said.Malaysia Airports yesterday exercised its pre-emptive rights to buy the stake in Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport[1] from units of Turkish builder Limak Holding AS.The acquisition is “expected to strengthen MAHB’s foothold and influence as an airport manager and airport operator in Turkey,” the company said in the statement. “Sabiha Airport is also viewed as an attractive asset to MAHB, given its long term growth potential and prospects.”
Sabiha Gökçen, located on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city, is drawing investors with the fastest passenger growth in Europe. The bid from Malaysia Airports put an end to plans by TAV Havalimanlari Holding AS (TAVHL), owner of Istanbul’s larger Ataturk airport, to buy the stake in a deal reached last month.
MAHB, Limak and India’s GMR Group had first formed a 20-40-40 consortium in 2008 for the development of the green field airport, with the capacity to handle up to 25 million passengers per year. MAHB was the designated airport operator partner.
MAHB earlier this year increased its interest in ISG and LGM to 60 percent from 20 percent when it acquired a 40 percent stake from GMR for 225 million euros and obtained joint control with Limak Group.
Turkish TAV Airports were also interested in acquiring the 40 percent of the Sabiha Gökçen Airport and its operational services company, but the Malaysian company had the preemptive rights to buy the remainder of the units of the airport from Limak Group.
[1] Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (IATA: SAW, ICAO: LTFJ) is one of the two international airports serving İstanbul, Turkey. The facility is named after Sabiha Gökçen, the first female combat pilot in Turkey. Located 35 km (22 mi) southeast[1] of central İstanbul, it is on the Asian side of the bi-continental city. It was built because Atatürk International Airport (on the European side) was not large enough to meet the booming passenger demands (both domestic and international). SAW's international terminal capacity was 3 million passengers per year and the domestic terminal capacity was 0.5 million passengers per year. In June 2007, Turkish conglomerate Limak Holding, India's GMR Group and Malaysia Airport Holding Berhad (MAHB) consortium gained the contract for upgrading and maintaining the airport. In mid-2008, ground was broken to upgrade the international terminal to handle 25 million passengers annually.
The new terminal was inaugurated on 31 October 2009. In 2010, Sabiha Gökçen airport handled 11,129,472 passengers, a 71% increase compared to 2009. The airport is planning to host 25 million passengers by 2023. In September 2010, the airport was voted the World's Best Airport at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in London and received the award.[5] The other awards received by the airport in 2010 were: Turkey’s Most Successful Tourism Investment 2010, the highly commended award from Routes Europe and the airport is honored with Airport Traffic Growth Award by Airline News & Network Analysis web site anna.aero.