Changi closer to taking control of RioGaleão

Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE issued preliminary authorization for Singapore airport operator Changi to assume a controlling stake of RioGaleão, operator of Rio de Janeiro's Galeão international airport.

Changi, which already had 20% of the concessionaire, will increase its share to 51% after acquiring the stake held by Odebrecht TransPort, a subsidiary of Brazil's embattled construction conglomerate Odebrecht. The remaining 49% belongs to state airport operator Infraero.

In July, China's HNA Infrastructure announced the acquisition of the Odebrecht share but it failed to complete the operation due to a lack of guarantees from the Chinese government, CADE said.

The preliminary authorization comes as the concessionaire is running against the clock to pay the first installment of 1.16bn reais (US$353mn) for the concession rights, due December 20.

According to local media, Odebrecht sold its stake for 60mn reais, although the company did not disclose the transaction's value.

Odebrecht, which is at the heart of the Lava Jato corruption probe and has seen the volume of new construction contracts drop sharply, is selling assets in order to pay off debts.