GVK eyeing Siemens stake in BIAL

GVK Power and Infrastructure, which holds 29 per cent stake in the Bangalore International Airport Limited, today said it is ready to pick up Siemens's Project Ventures' stake if it decides to sell it.

"We are interested in picking up a stake. But they have to offer it," Chairman of the company G Krishna Reddy told reporters here on the sidelines of unveiling an expansion plan of BIAL's terminal one.

"If they sell it, we have the first right of refusal," he said. GVK is the second largest stake holder in BIAL.

Currently Siemens, which has a 40 per cent stake, has a lock-in period for selling stakes. "They could sell 14 per cent by next year and 26 per cent by 2015," he said.

GVK had acquired 17 per cent stake in BIAL from Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T), in 2009 for Rs 686 crore and in it acquired 12 per cent of Zurich Airport's stake in BIAL for Rs 484.6 crore. Both the deals priced BIAL shares at Rs 105 a piece.

BIAL is a public Limited Company formed to build, own and operate Bangalore's greenfield private sector-owned and operated airport. Private promoters hold a 74 per cent stake in BIAL while the government holds the remaining 26 per cent.