A consortium including a construction company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim has clinched the terminal project at Mexico City’s new $13 billion airport, Mexican officials said on Friday.
The construction arm of Slim’s Grupo Carso and his majority-owned FCC submitted a bid of 84.8 billion Mexican pesos ($3.98 billion) for the project, which is due to be completed in 2020.
The consortium also includes Spain’s Acciona and Mexican firms ICA, Constructora Y Edificadora GIA+A (GIA), Promotora y Desarrolladora Mexicana (Prodemex), and the construction unit of Grupo Hermes.
The win reflects Slim’s growing presence in infrastructure, as his telecommunications giant America Movil is squeezed by a sweeping reform and tougher competition at home.
The decision was announced at an event in Mexico City as well as via the airport’s official Twitter account.
Slim defeated a rival consortium headed by Portuguese builder Mota Engil and another by Mexico’s Omega, which had submitted more expensive bids.
Shares of ICA, which in October won a deal to build a foundation for the terminal, shares surged more than 16 percent at mid-afternoon.
Federico Patino, the head of GACM, the state-owned company managing the airport project, said the consortium won because it made the cheapest offer and had more experience.
In 2015, ICA began defaulting on interest payments as it struggled with slumping revenues and heavy debts.
Designed by British architect Norman Foster and Slim’s son-in-law Fernando Romero, the terminal building is slated to serve some 68 million passengers annually by the time it opens in 2020 and make Mexico City a regional hub.
Carso, along with GIA, Hermes and Prodemex won a 7.36 billion peso contract for one of the airport’s runways in September.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Christine Murray; Editing by Richard Chang and Sandra Maler)
