THE Megawide Construction Corp.-GMR Infrastructure Ltd. consortium is at the top of the race for the P17.5-billion deal to operate and expand Mactan Cebu International Airport, after trumping offers by rival bidders for the country’s second-busiest air hub.
Results of the opening last week of the financial bids submitted by seven groups showed the consortium had made an up-front offer of P14.4 billion, said to be the highest for any public-private partnership (PPP) deal on record.
If the two companies clinch the deal, it would be the third PPP project for Megawide and the fourth airport job for Indian infrastructure contractor GMR, which built Delhi International Airport and was never beaten in airport project auctions, according to reports.
The Department of Transportation and Communications had said it would award the contract as soon as it winds up its final review in January.
The Megawide-GMR group’s offer comes on top of the project cost. All groups, which included conglomerates like Ayala Corp., San Miguel Corp., SM Group and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., submitted premium offers.
Megawide-GMR’s bid was P400 million higher than that of the Filinvest group, which partnered with Singapore’s Changi.
The SM group’s Premier Airports offered P12.5 billion. The MPIC-JGS Airport consortium—a partnership between Metro Pacific of businessman Manuel Pangilinan and JG Summit Holdings of the Gokongwei family—offered P11.23 billion. AAA Consortium, led by the Ayala and Aboitiz groups, offered P11.08 billion. The group of San Miguel and Incheon submitted a P9.05-billion offer, while that of the Lopez clan’s First Philippine Airports offered P4.7 billion.
The winning bidder will operate Mactan-Cebu Airport for 25 years.
