Cape Town names 2010 stadium preferred operator
CAPE TOWN, Aug 25 (Reuters) - South Africa's city of Cape Town named on Monday the SAIL/Stade de France joint venture as the preferred bidder to operate its 2.85 billion rand ($369.4 million) 2010 Soccer World Cup stadium.
"It is recommended that the Category B tender submission made by SAIL CSDF GPS operating company to become the long-term operator for the new Green Point stadium be awarded the status of preferred bidder," a city document released on Monday said.
The Stade de France consortium was formed in 1995 to build and operate the 80,000 seat Stade de France sports stadium in Paris, venue of the 1998 World Cup final, according to documents in Cape Town city's possession.
South Africa-based SAIL sports marketing group is majority owned by investment holding firm Venfin Ltd. and black investment firm Vuwa as its main shareholders.
Investec Bank (INLJ.J)(INPJ.J) and a joint venture between Thebe Exhibitions and Projects Pty (Ltd) had also entered bids to operate the 68,000 Green Point Stadium.
City officials said a final decision on the operator contract was expected at the end of October, after which naming rights for the stadium would be negotiated. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by Sue Thomas)
