Portugal’s Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC), competition authority, has nodded through the purchase of Parkalgar Serviços S.A. – the debt-ridden owner-company of the Algarve International Autodrome – by State-owned Portugal Capital Ventures, Sociedade de Capital de Risco, S.A.
AdC said in an online notification published on November 6 that they did not oppose the deal as they did not believe it would create “significant obstacles as far as competition issues are concerned within the market in question”, and gave Portugal Capital Ventures the green light.
Now, Portugal Capital Ventures will have sole control over assets that make up the beleaguered racetrack, including the kart and off-road circuits.
Although the Algarve International Autodrome has been a stage for many of the world’s most prestigious races, receiving such events as the Superbike World Championship, the International GT Open and the Superstars International Series, Parkalgar, the racetrack’s former owners, was well on the road to ruin before Portugal Capital Ventures stepped in to take over.
The company owed approximately €160 million and was registering a €4.3 million deficit. A “special revitalisation programme” (Processo Especial de Revitalização de empresas, or PER) was thus initiated to ensure the company’s future under the current economic and financial crisis.
