Buenos Aires water company privatized after 20 years of state management
A group of Argentine and foreign companies won the tender process for public firm AySA with a US$340 million bid La entrada Buenos Aires water company privatized after 20 years of state management se publicó primero en Buenos Aires Herald .
The Argentine government announced on Thursday that it has sold 90% of the shares in the water and sanitation utility company Agua y Saneamientos Argentinos (AySA) to a group of firms from Argentina, Brazil, and the Netherlands. The bid, valued at US$340 million, marks the return of the company to private ownership after 20 years of state management.
AySA serves 14 million people in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. The current concession contract is for 30 years and can be extended for another decade. The winning consortium, led by Argentine engineering firm Rowing SA, must invest US$1.9 billion in the first five years and a total of US$15 billion over the 30-year period.
The government expects water coverage to rise from 75% to 79% and sewage coverage from 64% to 65% in the first decade. Despite receiving over US$13.4 billion in state transfers since 2006, AySA still serves a third of its concession area without access to drinking water and sewage. The privatization is the largest carried out by the current libertarian government and the most profitable to date.
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- Buenos Aires water company privatized after 20 years of state management buenosairesherald.com
