Managers at Aer Rianta expect to be informed today whether their bid to purchase a one-third share of Hamburg airport in northern Germany has been successful.
The State-owned airport company is thought to have committed some £2 million (€2.54 million) in a joint bid with a German construction firm, Hoctief, with whom it already owns half of Dusselforf airport.
Hoctief's commitment to the potential deal is for more than £40 million. Aer Rianta will take responsibility for the management of the airport if the bid is successful, reflecting its area of expertise.
Hoctief specialises in the construction of airports and recently completed a major project at Athens airport in Greece.
Separately, Aer Rianta and Hoctief are thought to have withdrawn from a competition to acquire a 41.33 per cent stake in Turin airport which has been valued at more than £50 million.
The Irish company said last October that it would make a formal expression of interest in acquiring the stake. But Aer Rianta has now decided that Turin would not fit well with its international business, according to a person familar with the situation.
The company is also considering a possible bid for the retail operations at three airports in Jordan, which have been offered for sale by its government. At Hamburg, Aer Rianta and Hoctief are facing a counter-bid from local business interests.
It is thought that people in the Irish company have received conflicting signals from Germany in recent weeks. The stake in the airport is being sold by authorities of the city-state and the federal government. Attempts last evening to contact a spokesman for the airport's owners failed.
The airport - Germany's fourth-largest - recently reported a pre-tax profit for 1999 of DM57.9 million, up 3.6 per cent on its 1998 result. Turnover increased by 1.6 per cent to DM371.2 million. Describing its revenue growth as "subdued", the airport's results statement said this reflected pricing stability and the initial effects of increasing competition in ground traffic services.
The airport's executive chairman, Mr Werner Hauschild, said it would offset this by increasing the contribution from its retail and catering divisions. These accounted for 29 per cent of turnover in 1999 and the airport wanted to increase this share to 33 per cent.
This could be crucial to the outcome of Aer Rianta's bid with Hoctief, as the Irish company has a particular strength in airport retailing, with operations in about 15 airports in Canada, Russia and the middle-east. Aer Rianta also owns a 48.25 per cent share of Birmingham airport.
