"So far, 15 out of 42 of those registered with GACA have confirmed their participation in the road show, the first ever for the privatization project of the Prince Mohammad bin Abdul Aziz Airport in Madinah. We expect many more confirmations in the next two to three days," said Alaa Samman, director of business development for domestic airports at GACA.
Confirmed participants include HSBC, Abu Dhabi Investment, and Kuwait Finance and Investment company, said Samman.
Madinah airport will be Saudi Arabia's first privately owned airport to be built at a cost of SR6 billion ($1.6 billion). It will handle as many as eight million passengers per year once it is ready by 2014.
Samman said the purpose of the road show is to reach out to potential investors. "It's a huge project that requires private lending and we want to make sure banks are aware of that," he added.
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, will act as financial and legal advisers, he said.
GACA is seeking initial investment proposals by May 20 to build and operate the airport for up to 25 years before transferring it to the government. The winning bid will be announced on Nov. 25.
GACA plans to spend $10 billion to $20 billion on developing and upgrading airports by 2020 with private investors set to contribute as much as $10 billion to the projects.
