Natal airport auction was won by R$ 1? Understand – 05/19/2023 – Market

The re-bidding for the airport of São Gonçalo do Amarante (RN) was won by the Swiss group Zurich Airport with an initial grant offer in the amount of R$ 320,000,012.00. The proposal was only R$ 1 real higher than that of XP, the only competitor in the event.

Observing the numbers, it may seem that the auction was decided by a very small difference. But, in practice, XP would need to make an offer of over R$ 5 million to remain in the dispute.

That is, it was not for a handful of coins that the Natal airport was won by Zurich, but because the competitor did not agree to raise the bid to R$ 325 million and, with that, open a new round of dispute.

Auction rules can be a little confusing. The logic of “who gives the most” is what defines the winners, but there are variations on how the offers will work.

So that the dispute does not go up from cents to cents (which would last hours, or even days), the organizers define what will be the minimum variation between bids. In the case of the Natal airport auction, it was decided that the difference would be R$ 5 million in relation to the last proposal made by the bidder itself.

The event began with the opening of offers sent in writing. The minimum bid had been set at R$226.9 million.

The narrator opened the envelope and read the companies’ proposal. At the airport auction, Zurich made the highest initial bid, R$ 250 million. XP’s offer was R$ 231 million.

Then, the part of live bids began, as the moment when the bidders compete bid by bid began. It’s “who gives more” time.

At this stage, companies need to follow the rule of minimum variation in the value of proposals.

As Zurich made the highest initial offer (R$ 250 million), the open outcry round was opened by XP, which made the “minimum upgrade” and made the bid of R$ 255 million.

As the difference between proposals considers the last value offered by the company itself, not the competitor, the Swiss group offered R$ 255 million and 1 real. That is, it followed the minimum required and even surpassed the XP proposal.

The offer, made over the microphone, drew some laughs from those present. What may seem like a provocation —or a gimmick— is just the strategy that companies adopt to compete for assets, trying to spend as little money as possible.

Until the hammer was beaten in Zurich’s BRL 320,000,012.00 bid, the competitors competed in a series of 13 rounds (see the sequence below), always with a minimum variation of BRL 5 million plus 1 cent or BRL 1 .

Bidder	bid amount	Goodwill (%)
XP	BRL 231,000,000.00 (initial)	1.79
Zurich	BRL 250,000,000.00 (initial)	10.16
XP	BRL 255,000,000.00	12.36
Zurich	BRL 255,000,001.00	12.36
XP	BRL 260,000,000.01	14.56
Zurich	BRL 265,000,000.01	16.77
XP	BRL 270,000,000.00	18.97
Zurich	BRL 270,000,001.00	18.97
XP	BRL 275,000,001.00	21.17
Zurich	BRL 275,000,002.00	21.17
XP	BRL 280,000,002.00	23.38
Zurich	BRL 280,000,003.00	23.38
XP	BRL 285,000,004.00	25.58
Zurich	BRL 285,000,005.00	25.58
XP	BRL 290,000,005.00	27.78
Zurich	BRL 290,000,006.00	27.78
XP	BRL 295,000,006.00	29.99
Zurich	BRL 295,000,007.00	29.99
XP	BRL 300,000,007.00	32.19
Zurich	BRL 300,000,008.00	32.19
XP	BRL 305,000,008.00	34.39
Zurich	BRL 305,000,009.00	34.39
XP	BRL 310,000,009.00	36.6
Zurich	BRL 310,000,010.00	36.6
XP	BRL 315,000,010.00	38.8
Zurich	BRL 315,000,011.00	38.8
XP	BRL 320,000,011.00	41
Zurich	BRL 320,000,012.00	41
XP	BRL 320,000,011.00	41
Zurich	BRL 320,000,012.00	41