Brazilian Airports Privatisation - Commercial Due Diligence

 

About the brand

In January 2019, the Brazilian Government corporation Infraero began the sale process of a portfolio of six airports in North-East Brazil.

The portfolio of airports were Recife, Maceió, Aracaju, João Pessoa, Juazeiro do Norte and Campina Grande.

This is the fifth concession tranche in the country since the privatisation programme began in 2011.

The Challenge/Task

Pragma was commissioned by  Bank of America Merryl Lynch , global and financial advisor of AENA Internacional, the subsidiary of Aena responsible for its international business development, as the specialist commercial advisor to assess the non-aeronautical potential of the target portfolio of airports.

Pragma was tasked to conduct a due diligence study of the current commercial facilities and offerings, alongside the creation of key revenue forecasts for each airport to assist the client with its investment decision.

WHAT WE DID

  • Reviewed the existing commercial offer, commercial contracts and trading performance of each airport terminal to highlight key strengths, areas for improvement and future commercial potential of each airport

  • Developed a financial forecast for the key commercial revenue categories including duty free, retail, retail services, F&B, advertising, car parking and car rental throughout the concession period

  • Created a space supportable model for each airport detailing the recommended provision of commercial space within each category as input to the financial forecast and CAPEX programme

  • Provided short-term and longer-term improvement recommendations to enhance overall passenger experience and commercial revenue, with consideration given to passenger forecasts and global benchmarks

The Result

Pragma’s work provided the client with valuable insight into the commercial revenue potential of the target portfolio of assets. The results and outputs of the analysis and revenue forecasts were used by the bidding team as key inputs into their investment decision.

Ultimately, Aena Internacional , the client of Bank of America Merryl Lynch, was successful in submitting a bid that secured the acquisition of the six airports.