Bidders approach BAA over Gatwick
17.08.08
International infrastructure groups have approached BAA with offers to buy Gatwick for up to £3 billion, the Times reports. Germany’s Hochtief, Global Infrastructure Partners, the GE-Credit Suisse investment fund, Australia’s Macquarie and Britain’s Manchester Airport Group have all indicated their interest to Sir Nigel Rudd, BAA’s chairman. Other bidders, including American and Asian infrastructure funds and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, are expected to emerge in the next few months the newspaper claims.
BAA is said to be going to put Gatwick up for auction after a ground-breaking report this week from the Competition Commission. The competition watchdog is expected to say that the group’s ownership of London’s three largest airports - Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - is against the public interest. It will be the first time the commission has forced the sale of assets outside a takeover or merger situation. Industry executives believe BAA could even be asked to sell two of the London hubs - Gatwick and Stansted - and one of its largest Scottish airports.
The sale process could take two years and is expected eventually to yield a healthy profit for the Ferrovial-led consortium that bought BAA two years ago. The Spanish infrastructure group paid £10.3 billion to take BAA off the stock market.
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