Ardian and Changi Airports have plans to jointly bid for the Lyon-Saint-Exupéry and Nice Côte d'Azur airports in France.

The French government aims to sell its 60% stake in the airports by summer this year. The announcement comes after we reported, in January 2016, that the government had plans to launch the privatization process for its regional airports this month, February 2016.

Vinci has already said it will bid for the assets as well. Other bidders may include: Aéroports de Lyon, Ferrovial, Atlantia, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Malaysia Airport, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and the sovereign funds of Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

Agence des participations de l'État (APE), a vehicle of the Government of France managing the state's holdings in several firms, hired HSBC and Mediobanca as consultants for the two airport privatization processes.

Specifically, HSBC manages the privatization process for the Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport, while Mediobanca advises the government on the privatization process for the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport.

Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport is the international airport of Lyon, the third-biggest city in France and an important transport facility for the entire Rhône-Alpes region.

It lies in Colombier-Saugnieu, 20 km east southeast of Lyon city centre. The airport consists of three terminals and two runways aligned north-south. The airport has 18 jetways in all three terminals. Terminal 3 is used by low-cost airlines and has very basic facilities. In 2015, the airport served more that 9 million passengers.

Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is an international airport located 5.9 km southwest of Nice, in the Alpes-Maritimes départment of France. It is the third busiest airport in France and serves as a focus city for Air France and an operating base for easyJet. 

The airport is positioned 7 km west of the city center, and is the principal port of arrival for passengers to the Côte d'Azur. Due to its proximity to the Principality of Monaco, it also serves as the city-state's airport, with helicopter service linking the principality and airport. In 2015, it handled more that 12 million passengers. The airport's theoretical capacity is 13 million passengers and 52 movements (26 landings) per hour.