A1 requests VEB funding for Domodedovo buy
MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) - The Alfa-Group's A1 investment company has asked Vnesheconombank (VEB) for funding to buy Domodedovo Airport, the bank's deputy chairman, Mikhail Poluboyarinov, told reporters.
"A loan request has been received from A1, we're looking at the financial model and cash flows," he said.
The initial appraisal will take a week or two, then a full appraisal of the request will begin. "We don't have a deadline, and the full appraisal will take at least three months," Poluboyarinov said, adding that A1 filed its request a month ago.
"We can see that the airport needs new investment, a new terminal. There's a lot of things that need funding. For us this is a good opportunity to do the same as we did at Sheremetyevo Airport [investing in Terminal D]," he said.
Domodedovo was put up for sale at the end of last year. Domodedovo's adviser on the sale is Goldman Sachs, the manager of the airport's failed IPO. Domodedovo's shareholders are seeking about $5 billion, which potential buyers think is overpriced. One of them thinks a realistic price would be in the neighbourhood of $2.5 billion, a source familiar with the negotiations told Interfax.
Interest in the airport has previously been expressed by Renova Group owner Viktor Vekselberg and Vnukovo Airport shareholder Vitaly Vantsev. In addition, Vedomosti has reported that the potential suitors include Alfa Group, Summa Group owner Ziyavudin Magomedov and Roman Trotsenko's Novaport.
Summa has turned to Sberbank for a loan of roughly $2 billion, which is being sought for Cyprus-based Maple Ridge Ltd. As security, the borrower plans to hand over property of Domodedovo itself, and Sberbank is expected to join the airport's capital together with Summa.
However, according to the newspaper Vedomosti, Sberbank's CEO German Gref doubts Summa's ability to manage the major Russian hub without a specialized co-investor or top management. Summa has no experience managing an airport.
Domodedovo is thought to be owned by Dmitry Kamenshchik and Valery Kogan. In the run-up to its failed IPO, Domodedovo, which regulators had repeatedly accused of having a nontransparent ownership structure, said that Kamenshchik is the sole owner of the airport's holding company, DME Ltd. However, sometime later in the course of his questioning as a witness in a criminal case concerning noncompliance with air safety requirements, Kamenshchik did not name the airport's owner and said there was no single owner.
Domodedovo saw passenger flow increase 18.3% year-on-year in Q1 2012 to 5.2 million people. It increased 15.5% to 25.7 million fliers in 2011.
