Aena has been left without partners for the development of the logistics area of the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport after the resignation of the last of the five private partners with whom it has entered into negotiations to carry out this flagship project for the future Madrid Airport City. The manager must reformulate the terms of the mixed public-private project through a new tender that takes into account the new economic scenario to continue with the process. This is the second major setback that the company chaired by Maurici Lucena has suffered, after the competitions for duty-free shops were deserted (duty free) of the Madrid-Barajas airport and those of the lot of Catalonia.
The Australian real estate and logistics developer Goodman has been the last company to resign from participating in the Ciudad Aeroportuaria project, alleging that macroeconomic conditions have changed substantially compared to the moment in which it formalized its offer. This adds to the resignations of Segro, Logicor, P3 and Merlin, with which negotiations also failed.
Aena’s original project consists of the creation of a state-of-the-art logistics park, with offices, complementary activities, green and sports areas around the Barajas airport. The first area tendered, dedicated to logistics, includes 28 hectares to develop a maximum buildable area of 152,914 square meters in addition to four hectares for associated green areas. The space, located in the Henares corridor, is the first development of a real estate plan comprising a total of 2.1 million square meters.
The Aena board of directors will confirm this Tuesday the end of the consultation procedure with the participants of the initial tender, and will study adapting the project of the first parcels of the logistics area of what in the future will be the Madrid-Barajas Airport City, according to They have assured sources of the airport manager, participated by the State in 51%. “After a process of dialogue with the main operators, it is verified that the macroeconomic environment, with abrupt rises in interest rates, has varied substantially since the beginning of the previous process and is the cause of the partner search procedure adapting to the new macro environment and the logistics industry”, have assured the same sources.
From Aena, they justify the failed negotiations in an adverse economic environment, which included the creation of a mixed company in which the public manager would have 35% of the capital and would contribute the land, while the private partner, with 65%, would run in charge of the principal of the investment.
Five unsuccessful deals
In their defence, they point out that “these are very valuable assets, which have a unique location and communications” and that “the Airport has already approved a unique growth project in Europe”, therefore “Aena will always seek optimal market conditions to maximize the value of these lands”. However, Aena does not rule out postponing the tender “because this is a long-term project, so if the situation does not allow it to be valued now, we will put it later.”
There were five proposals in the contest. The joint offer by Segro and PSP received the best score, but it did not prosper with soaring interest rates. The same thing happened with Logicor, the second option that resigned in September 2022. Aena then opted for P3, which put on the table an offer of 168.7 million euros, between the investment and the initial contribution. Four months after the formal award, the subsidiary of the Singapore fund requested some changes that, according to Aena, if accepted, would entail a very relevant alteration with respect to the initial conditions established in the award specifications”. The airport manager began to negotiate with the next of the candidates, Merlin Properties, but the downward claims of its economic proposal also led to its rejection of Aena. For all these reasons, in his board of directors on Tuesday, the manager will decide to study the following movements to be made.
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