5 March, 2020
Baker & McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) recently advised Hokkaido Airports Co., Ltd. (Hokkaido Airports) on the execution of a contract and utilization of project finance for a bundled concession deal of seven airports in Hokkaido.
Hokkaido Airports was established on August 23, 2019 as a consortium of 17 companies based in Hokkaido and outside of Hokkaido. Its goal is to revitalize regional Hokkaido through integrated and flexible management of seven Hokkaido airports: New Chitose Airport, Wakkanai Airport, Kushiro Airport, Hakodate Airport, Asahikawa Airport, Obihiro Airport and Memanbetsu Airport.
The Hokkaido Bundled Seven Airports Concession deal improves Hokkaido’s core transportation infrastructure and is the first domestic deal to feature comprehensive bundling, in which multiple airports will be operated under a unified structure. It is also one of the largest ever privatized concession deals in Japan.
Naoaki "Nick" Eguchi led Baker McKenzie’s team with the assistance of partner Tetsuo Tsujimoto, senior associates Masabumi Tamagawa and Satoshi Abe and associates Daichi Kiriyama, Kenta Nobe, Masayoshi Kobayashi and Takehiko Nakai.
"This deal gave us a chance to leverage the strength of our global network to take advantage of our unparalleled expertise in the privatization of airports in Australia and the US. We are honored by the opportunity to be involved in a landmark bundling deal like this,” Nick commented. “We will continue to make full use of our unique resources to play a key role in both domestic and overseas airport projects as demand increases throughout Asia."
