No fewer than 14 companies have indicated their interest to bid for the proposed concession of the Asaba International Airport.
They include the BGL Consortium, FBN Capital, Infrastructural Bank Plc, One Dott Aviation, Rougton International Consortium, Ponclef Associates Limited and Planet Capital Consortium, Enterprise Integratus.
Others are Halcro Infrastructure Consortium, Deloids, PWC, Rosecross, Ed-field Partners Consortium and Vetiva Capital Management Limited.
The state government had, in a bid to upgrade the standard of the airport few weeks ago, called for bidders as transaction adviser in the concession arrangement.
At the opening of the bids on Monday in Asaba, the Senior Policy Adviser to the Governor Prof. Sylvester Monye, supported by his counterpart in Economic Planning, Mr. George Orogun, said only a company with technical capability, quality aviation experience and strong financial base would be considered.
He said, “I am excited that this event is taking a lead in the state. This is a new Delta State. We have friends who can bid for the concession but because we want the best for the state, we decided to throw the bidding process open for healthy competition.”
Monye, a former Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Project Monitoring and Evaluation, said the state would be represented in Turkey for the proposed Airport Public-Private-Partnership meeting, designed purely for airport concession.
Representatives of the 14 companies expressed their preparedness to lead the transaction both in technical experience and financial strength.