Ferrovial plots sale of UK regional airports as Heathrow deal falters
In This Article:
Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial is seeking to offload three regional British airports as a separate deal to sell its stake in Heathrow falters.
Ferrovial and co-owner Macquarie have enlisted advisers to sell AGS Airports, which owns and operates Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports.
Bankers at Credit Agricole and Solomon Partners have been tasked with overseeing the process, which is expected to kick off in the coming weeks.
A source close to the process said AGS will be sold in its entirety, allowing both Ferrovial and Macquarie to exit.
Each owns 50pc of the business. The pair paid ￡1bn for the company in 2014 but the business is expected to be valued at much more when it comes up for sale.
It comes as Ferrovial’s ￡2.4bn deal to sell its 25pc stake in Heathrow is at risk of collapse, fuelled by a dearth of prospective buyers for the wider business.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and private equity firm Ardian teamed up to buy out Ferrovial last year but the deal is contingent on other Heathrow investors finding buyers for their stakes after shareholders triggered so-called “tag-along” rights.
It means another 35pc stake of Heathrow must be sold for the deal to complete.
Australia’s Macquarie had been touted as a potential bidder for the outstanding stake but subsequently scrapped its acquisition plans last month, as revealed by The Telegraph.
During a call with investors earlier this week, Ferrovial’s chief financial officer Ernesto Lopez Mozo refused to say whether the Heathrow sale will be completed by the end of the year.
Sources close to the deal have claimed there are no other bidders immediately apparent to support PIF and Ardian, with the latter unsuccessfully leading attempts to identify another investor.
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala investment fund, backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, had reportedly shown an interest earlier this year but is thought to no longer be considering the deal.
The proposed sale of AGS will represent the latest transaction in the aviation sector, after French infrastructure group Vinci Airports bought a majority stake in Edinburgh Airport for around ￡1.27bn last month.
According to its most recent results, AGS reported revenues of ￡166m for the year to December 2022, up from ￡87m in 2021 when pandemic restrictions were still in place.
Macquarie and Ferrovial declined to comment.