Major investor Limak Investment, which is part of the large tourism and transport holding Limak Group, has decided to sell its assets in the IGA Airports management company, which controls the new Istanbul Airport, Bloomberg reports citing its own sources.
A large Turkish developer Mapa Insaat is also preparing to withdraw from the consortium. This company specializes in the design and construction of hotel and commercial real estate. In particular, she built such facilities as the Kremlin Palace, Topkapi Palace in Antalya.
According to a Bloomberg source, the decision to withdraw was made due to a delay in receiving the planned profit amid the negative effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the aviation sector. In addition, the main business of both players is directly related to tourism and hospitality, which are also suffering serious losses, especially against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In total, Limak Yatırım and Mapa İnsaat own 20% in the IGA Airports association. The remaining members of the consortium will be the buyers of the shares. In this case, Kalyon İnsaat will own 55% and Cengiz İnsaat 45% of the shares.
The source also said that after the sale of shares, Limak Yatırım Holding intends to pay special attention to investments in energy and infrastructure in Turkey.
The sale deal is currently awaiting approval from the Turkish Antimonopoly Committee. All participants in the transaction are currently refusing to comment.
Istanbul Airport was opened in 2018 with the participation of five investors. One of them, Kolin Insaat, was released by the consortium back in 2019.
The payback period of the new facility has shifted significantly due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was planned that in ten years the passenger traffic of the air harbor will grow to 200 million per year, but so far it serves only 90 million annually.
The companies operating the airport had to pay the government 22.2 billion euros in annual rent for the 25-year life of the project. However, the Turkish authorities have postponed payments for 2020 and 2021, and also reduced the interest rate on loans issued by $6.9 billion. In addition, the loan repayment period was extended by two years until 2033. However, even these measures could not deter investors from withdrawing from the project.