BSEIF’s Infrastructure & Transport Logistics division has published SAC: acquiring a 51% stake in Sicily’s airport platform, the sixth piece of official divisional research released by the association and the second full paper after the four initial statements. It was written by Leonardo Gatti, Head of Infrastructure & Transport Logistics, with Vittorio De March, Ana Carolina Nacif, Francesco Motta, Vittorio Pisa and Shreya Prakash. It assesses SAC, the company that runs Catania and Comiso airports, as an investment for infrastructure private equity funds and institutional investors, while a majority stake in the company is being sold.
The paper starts from the ownership of Italian airports, where institutional capital is already present: F2i and Asterion Industrial Partners invest through 2i Aeroporti, which holds interests in SEA in Milan and SAGAT in Turin. Catania handled approximately 12.37 million passengers in 2025, up 0.2%, and the source analysis attributes about 40% of its third-quarter 2025 seats to Ryanair. Against that gateway position the paper sets Comiso’s recurring losses, volcanic disruption, a single runway and an approximately €1.3 billion development programme at Catania. Capital recovery is therefore the central underwriting issue.
The valuation follows the concession. Catania’s modelled concession expires on 12 September 2049, so the discounted cash flow model values unlevered cash flows from 7 October 2026 to that date, with no perpetual terminal value, no renewal and no residual compensation. Development spending keeps free cash flow to the firm negative through 2033, and it turns positive only in 2034. Discounted at a corporate WACC of 7.49%, those cash flows give an enterprise value of €173.23 million and a value of €97.46 million for the 51% stake. Moving the WACC between 7.0% and 8.0% shifts the stake between €108.96 million and €86.54 million.
The returns analysis then looks at the purchase as a sponsor would. An entry at 7.0x 2026 cash EBITDA prices the stake at €100.62 million, funded entirely with equity, while the operating company borrows to finance development. Held to a 2036 exit at 5.3x EBITDA, the investment earns an internal rate of return of 7.97% and a 2.15x multiple with no interim dividends, so the whole return depends on the exit. Lower entries of €87.55 million and €94.08 million raise it only to 9.48% and 8.70%. Paying the median multiple of listed peers or of precedent transactions would cut it to 4.52% or 1.34%.
On 31 July 2026 SAC admitted ten of fourteen applicants to the second phase of the sale, among them VINCI Airports, Royal Schiphol Group, Mundys, SAVE, 2i Aeroporti and Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund, and non-binding offers are due by 12 November 2026 under the reported timetable. Competition may push the price above standalone value. The paper concludes that SAC is a conditional Core+ opportunity, since every tested entry price returns less than an illustrative 10% hurdle. It supports continued due diligence, provided that tariff recovery is verified, development financing is committed, the equity bridge is reconciled and the exit assumptions hold.
The full paper is available under Insights, in the Infrastructure & Transport Logistics section. It can be read on the website, opened separately or downloaded as a PDF.