Fairfax buys 7% more stake in Bengaluru airport operator for $175 mn

Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa-controlled Fairfax India Holdings Corp. has acquired an additional 7% stake in Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) from Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, part of Siemens Financial Services, for $175 million.

The deal helps Fairfax raise its shareholding in the company that runs the Kempegowda airport to 64%, with 20.4% being held by its wholly owned subsidiary FIH Mauritius Investments Ltd and the rest by its indirect subsidiary Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Ltd.

In June, Fairfax India had acquired a 3% stake in BIAL from Siemens Project Ventures for $75 million.

Fairfax India invests in Indian businesses, both public and private, including equity securities and debt instruments.

With the additional stake in Bengaluru airport changing hands, development projects at the airport is expected to gain momentum. The start of this year saw the operational launch of the newly developed Terminal 2 (T2) at the airport.

BIAL, a private entity, holds a concession agreement with the government of India that grants it exclusive rights to manage the development, design, finance, construction, commissioning, maintenance, operation, and management of the Bengaluru airport through a public-private partnership until 2068.

BIAL aims to transition all international operations at the airport, which is India’s third largest by passenger traffic, to Terminal 2 and renovate Terminal 1 to serve domestic passengers, boosting its capacity to 35 million.

Following the completion of phase 2 of Terminal 2, which will increase its capacity to 45 million, BIAL’s total passenger handling capacity is expected to reach 80 million.