Hochtief Chief Seeks Firmer Airport Solution After Shelving Sale

Hochtief AG (HOT), Germany’s largest construction company, will put together a firmer plan to exit its airport business after shelving a planned sale a second time, Chief Executive Officer Frank Stieler said.

“We’ve now tried twice to sell our airports,” Stieler said today at an event in Munich. “Before we make an announcement for a third time, we’ll try and have a presentable solution in place.”

Hochtief in January had said it still aims to sell the unit this year, though conceded market conditions were making a sale more difficult than expected. A buyer of the airports concessions business would gain stakes in six airports serving cities such as Hamburg, Sydney, Budapest and Athens.

Hochtief in December 2009 shelved an attempt for an initial public offering of its wider concessions unit, which included the airports operations, citing a slump in global capital markets.

To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Weiss in Frankfurt at rweiss5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net