BAA ‘ready to fight to keep Stansted’
14.03.09
BAA plans to oppose any move by the Competition Commission to force it to sell Stansted, the Daily Mail reports. The recommendation to sell the airport, which analysts value at more than £1billion, is expected next week in a report on the future of the industry by the competition watchdog.
BAA is already in the middle of the sale of its second biggest airport, Gatwick. However, the sale of this airport has been delayed, and is unlikely to raise the price BAA had hoped when it was put up for sale, given recent falls in passenger numbers and problems bidders are said to be experiencing raising debt to fund the deal. Any sale of Stansted would be hit by similar problems.
The newspaper reports that lawyers for BAA have been heartened by a recent decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal to back an appeal by Tesco against a Commission ruling that threatened the supermarket giant with planning restrictions. They believe the ruling increases its chance of succeeding in an appeal, especially as it volunteered to sell Gatwick.
The Commission in its initial report last year recommended that BAA be forced to sell two of its London airports, along with either Glasgow or Edinburgh. However, BAA is keen to retain its core airports, including Heathrow, Stansted and Edinburgh.
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