Ferrovial sells down BAA stake; gets high price
11.10.11
Ferrovial has received more than twice the expected value for a sale of some of its shares in BAA. The sale of 5.88% of its stake reduces its holding to 49.99%, enabling Ferrovial to remove BAA’s debts from its balance sheet. It also means the Spanish operator no longer owns a majority stake in the UK airports group, which it bought in 2006.
The sale to investment group Alinda Capital Partners - a US firm that specialises in infrastructure - for €325 million (£280 million) implies a valuation of BAA of over €5.5 billion (£4.8 billion). This is more than twice the market’s previous estimate of its value, Reuters reports.
Ferrovial paid £10.3 billion for BAA five years ago near the top of the market, but has since sold Gatwick Airport for £1.5 billion. The company said it had no intention of selling any more BAA shares 'at the moment.' It had been looking to sell a stake of up to 10% in BAA for around a year in order to cut its debt. Its remaining stake still leaves it as by far the biggest single investor in BAA, with effective control over the airports operator.
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