On Friday, the airport operator GMR Group announced that it will sell its whole 40% ownership in Cebu international airport in the Philippines in exchange for an upfront payment of Rs 1,330 crore as well as earnouts to be earned over the course of a term that is longer than four years.
In a separate development, the Board of Directors of GMR Infrastructure gave its approval for the company to raise up to 6,000 billion rupees by selling foreign currency convertible bonds or any other kind of asset. On Thursday, another firm that is part of the GMR group called GMR Power and Urban Infra gave its approval to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore in capital.
The organisation plans to utilise these cash for several infrastructure projects that they are working on. Airport cities are being developed by the group company GMR Airports surrounding its airports in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Goa. Commercial property is now available in these areas. GMR Airports International BV (GAIBV), a stepdown subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure (and a direct subsidiary of GAL), has entered into agreements with Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC), allowing AIC to acquire shares in GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation. This comes as part of GMR Airports International BV’s (GAIBV) decision to sell its stake in Cebu Airport (GMCAC).
The Mactan Cebu International Airport is a project that was developed and is being operated by GMCAC, a joint venture between GAIBV and Megawide Construction Corporation (MCC) (MCIA). According to a regulatory filing, the interest is being sold off as part of the emphasis on deleveraging GMR Airports and churning assets for improved returns on investment. This is being done as part of the overall strategy.
According to the document that GMR submitted, “The transaction will be done at an enterprise value of PhP49.7 billion (Rs 7,050 crore), and GAIBV would acquire an upfront sum of Rs 13.3 crore in lieu of the shares being transferred, and notes being issued.” The term “PhP” stands for “Philippine Pesos.” “We would continue to operate as the technical services provider to GMCAC until December 2026, (and) will be entitled to further deferred payment depending on the future performance of GMCAC for the same time,” the agreement states.
