Today, September 16, the Board of the Investment Partnership Plan (the "Plan") published its Resolution No. 5, setting out general guidelines to the concession of the operation and exploration of four international airports, located in the cities of Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre and Salvador.

The Resolution is the first normative act of the Board that contains specific rules regarding the concessions included in the Plan, which may provide some insights about general guidelines that may be adopted in other infrastructure areas.

Among the published guidelines, we highlight the following:

Auction Rules

  • Modality and selection criteria: The adopted modality is the simultaneous auctions to be held in a public session. The proposals′ selection criteria will be the "highest offered Initial Fixed Contributio " (which is defined below in item "Payment of the Offered Amount");
  • Restrictions to Competition: Airports located in the same "geographical area" should be granted to competitors of different economic groups;
  • The requests for proposals will further detail such concept. The Resolution also sets forth that the Civil Aviation Agency - ANAC (or Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil) may establish other restrictions related to regulatory and competition matters for the participation in the public tenders;
  • Mandatory Participation of the Airport Operator in the Consortium: The airport operator must hold at least 15% of the bidding consortium′s equity;
  • Airport Operator′s Previous Experience: The airport operator must evidence its previous passenger transport experience, within the last five years, of, at least 9 million passengers/year in Salvador, 9 million passengers/year in Porto Alegre, 7 million passengers/year in Fortaleza and 4 million passengers/year in Florianópolis;
  • Minimum Bid: The minimum amount of the Fixed Contribution to the System will be determined based on the amount resulting from the Technical, Economic and Environmental Feasibility Studies (Estudos de Viabilidade Técnica, Econômica e Ambiental - EVTEA);
  • Payment of the Offered Amount: The awarded consortium shall pay, at the moment of signing the concession contract, an amount called "Initial Fixed Contribution" which corresponds to: (a) 25% of the minimum amount determined for the Fixed Contribution to the System (as provided for in the above item " Minimum Bid "), in addition to (b) the total premium offered, if any;
  • The advanced payment of the premium (which means, at the time the contract gets signed) is an innovation that should be adopted in bids for other enterprises provided in the schedule of the Plan.

Concession Terms and Conditions

  • Concession period: 25 years for Porto Alegre airport, and 30 years to the other airports;
  • Annual Fixed Contribution: During the concession period, the concessionaire will pay an "Annual Fixed Contribution", that corresponds to 75% of the minimum amount of the Fixed Contribution to the System (as provided in the above item "Minimum Bid");
  • During the first five years of concession, the concessionaire will be exempted from such payment. As of the sixth year, the Annual Fixed Contribution will increase progressively each year, from 20% of the minimum amount of the Fixed Contribution, until reaching 100% from the tenth year until the end of the concession period;
  • Payment of Annual Variable Contribution: The concessionaire shall also pay a Variable Contribution to the System, that corresponds to 5% of the concessionaire′s total gross revenue and of its wholly owned subsidiaries, if any;

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.