French airports operator ADP, which operates Paris airports Roissy and Orly, has bought a 49 per cent stake in GMR Airports for 1.34 billion euros ($1.45 billion), ADP said on Thursday. GMR Airports has a portfolio of seven airports in three countries: India, the Philippines and Greece. ADP said the Delhi and Hyderabad airports in India and the Mactan-Cebu airport in the Philippines together handled a total of 102 million passengers in 2019.The four other airports, which had 22 million passengers in 2019, are either under development (Goa and Heraklion) or were recently won by GMR after a bidding process (Nagpur and Bhogapuram).ADP said the acquisition was in line with its strategy of buying airports in countries with fast-growing air traffic. The deal will be paid for in cash and, if appropriate, financed through loans, the firm said.”This acquisition is a transforming position for the group in one of Asia’s most dynamic and promising countries,” ADP chief executive Augustin de Romanet said.
