HOCHTIEF successful in bid for Hamburg Airport

HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH, Essen – together with its partner Aer Rianta International plc., Shannon, Ireland – has been successful in its bid for the partial privatization of Flughafen Hamburg GmbH, the company that owns and operates Hamburg Airport. The consortium is acquiring a stake of 36 percent in this company.

"Hamburg Airport is an attractive investment", comments Dr. Hans-Peter Keitel, HOCHTIEF CEO. "Situated in the economically prospering catchment area of Greater Hamburg, it has long been one of the most profitable companies in this sector. We now intend to expand this strong market position even further."

By acquiring a stake in Hamburg, HOCHTIEF AirPort is systematically pursuing its strategy of making the quality and the profitability of the investment its yardstick for any commitment. In this, the key factors are the stability and growth of civil aviation and the potential for further development. Another important condition that HOCHTIEF AirPort sets is obtaining an influential entrepreneurial role in order to be able to realize synergies and transfer knowhow and thus create added value for all concerned.

For HOCHTIEF AirPort, the Hamburg acquisition represents a big step towards its goal of becoming one of the leading international airport groups. The company – founded in 1997 to concentrate all the airport activities of the HOCHTIEF Group – already has holdings in Düsseldorf Airport (50 percent together with Aer Rianta International) and in the new Athens International Airport, scheduled to open on March 1, 2001.

(Translation)