The rumours are true; Budapest Airport might fall under Hungarian ownership

Indotek Group is indeed negotiating the acquisition of Budapest Airport as part of a consortium of Hungarian and, to a lesser extent, American investors, Dániel Jellinek, the CEO of Indotek Group, responded to the rumours from Bloomberg.

As per Portfolio’s information, the following lines are the comments from Indotek Group:
Indotek Group is constantly looking for targets to purchase, primarily in the real estate and other related economic sectors. The main strength of the group is the acquisition, consolidation, and development of market targets that have economic difficulties.

Indotek Group conducts business negotiations with potential – Hungarian and, to a lesser extent, American – investors about the acquisition of Budapest Airport Ltd. as part of a consortium. The consortium, organised by Indotek Group, consists exclusively of professionals with no political affiliation.

Due to the confidential nature of these business negotiations, I cannot disclose any additional information, Dániel Jellinek said.

Bloomberg was informed that a consortium had made an offer to Budapest Airport, including Dániel Jellinek, the founder of Indotek Group and one of the richest people in Hungary, and MOL Group.

Previously about the topic:
Budapest Airport to lay off more staff
The Hungarian government to buy Budapest Airport?

There are currently three owners of Budapest Airport: GIC Private Limited Company (formerly: Government of Singapore Investment Corporation), a Canadian pension fund, and AviAlliance, an airport operating company, which is also Canadian. According to Bloomberg, the owners of the airport have not yet declared any intention about selling it. Only one of the owners, AviAlliance, has responded to the agency and said that they believed in the long-term growth potential of their investment.

The crisis surrounding the novel coronavirus has hit the aviation sector particularly hard and has depressed the value of many airports, making it cheaper and easier for acquisitions.

Last year, before the outbreak of the coronavirus, the estimated value of Budapest Airport was around €3 billion.

Thanks to the rise of low-cost airlines, the traffic of Budapest Airport has dynamically grown in recent years. Last year, the revenue of Budapest Airport increased by 43% to €331 million, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company estimates a 90% drop in sales by the end of the year.

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Source: Portfolio.hu, Bloomberg.com