Argentina’s government formally awarded 90% of AySA, the state water company serving about 14 million people in and around Buenos Aires, to a Rowing-led group for US$340.2 million, and set November 13 as the deadline to sign.
An Economy Ministry resolution published Thursday in the Boletín Oficial, the government’s official gazette, approved the last stage of the tender. Nobody challenged the evaluation commission’s ranking, so the group that bid highest won. The only rival offer in the sealed bids opened on October 8, from a group led by the Roggio family’s construction company, was US$285 million. Both prices exclude sales tax.
The winning group combines Rowing, an Argentine engineering and infrastructure firm, with the Argentine chemicals firm Transclor, Brazil’s Arcos Saneamento, which runs water services in Brazil, and PHX Aqua, a Netherlands-based vehicle. Next, the Treasury tells the buyer which account to pay into, and the contract is signed. The remaining 10% of AySA stays with its employees under a shareholding program.
The winner gets a 30-year concession, extendable by 10 years, and must invest US$1.94 billion in the first five years. For customers, the water regulator ERAS set in August that today’s tariff level stays constant in real terms through 2031: bills can follow inflation but not rise faster, subject to exceptions written into the contract.
The state took the water network back from a private operator in 2006. The investment plan and the first five-year tariff cycle run from 2027 to 2031.