After weeks of speculation swirled about a new buyer, Germany\u2019s Rhineland-Palatinate interior ministry announced today the sale of its majority 82.5 percent stake in Frankfurt-Hahn Airport to Shanghai Yigian Trading Company (SYT), a major Chinese construction company, in a deal valued in the “low-double-digit-million-euro range.\u201d SYT’s chief representative, Zu Tao Chou, professed that he “lost his heart” to the airport.
\nChou said Shanghai Yiqian Trading now plans to buy the remaining 17.5 percent stake held by the German state of Hesse. After years of struggling to make the former U.S. Army base profitable \u2013 with more than US$18.2 million in losses anticipated this year \u2013 the Chinese transportation company plans to increase air cargo links to meet demand for German meat and other consumables that Chinese producers are struggling to produce in sufficient supply.
\nWith the economy entering growth phase that Chinese President Xi Jinping has called, \u201cthe new normal,\u201d the country\u2019s firms are looking outward for continued growth, and this week\u2019s acquisition is part of a growing portfolio of transportation and logistics assets. In April, state-backed China Everbright Group acquired partial ownership of Albania’s international airport, while China Cosco Shipping Corporation acquired 67 percent of Greece’s Piraeus Port. Last week China’s HNA Group agreed to buy a stake in Virgin Australia, while moving to acquire a stake in Air France-KLM catering unit Servair.
\nThe deal also concluded months of speculation over the identity of the buyer, with some sources naming other suitors such as the Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Co. (HCNA) as recently as last Friday. Amazon was also regarded as a frontrunner in the bidding.
\nBelow: A 747-800 arrives at\u00a0 Frankfurt-Hahn Airport for the first time
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\nSource: aircargoworld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"