News Backgrounder
China investors acquire second European airport
May 1st 2016
After its successful bid for 49% of Toulouse Blagnac airport in south west France last year, Hong Kong listed China Everbright Ltd (CEL) and Chinese funded asset manager, Friedman Pacific , have agreed to acquire Tirana International Airport SHPK, the operator of Albania’s capital city airport, via a jointly held company, Keen Dynamics Ltd. Read More »
When the sale is finalized, Keen Dynamics will be running one of the fastest growing airports in Europe. Under the terms of the deal, the new owner will operate the airport until 2025, with the option of extending the agreement to 2027, pending Albanian government approval.
In the April announcement of the agreement, CEL CEO, Chen Shuang, said Tirana was Albania’s most important transport hub and that passengers using the facility increased from 600,000 a year in 2005 to two million annually in 2015.
China is the Eastern European nation’s third largest trading partner. Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, and Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, pledged to support development in and between the two countries when the Chinese leader visited Central and Eastern Europe last year.
Chen’s statement said the Tirana International Airport acquistion was part of a corporate strategy to identify good infrastructure investment opportunities, which was in line with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
