As revealed today , Ferrovial has reached an agreement to sell its entire stake (around 25%) in Heathrow Airport in London for 2,368 million pounds (2,735 million euros) to the French fund Ardian and the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia The Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The first will take around 15% of the concession of the London airport and the second, a controlling shareholder of STC, the company that has entered the capital of Telefónica, 10%, through separate vehicles.
Saudi Arabian PIF released a statement saying,
PIF today announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire a 10% stake in FGP TopCo (TopCo), the holding company of Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd, from Ferrovial S.A.
Ferrovial will transfer 25% of FGP Topco, parent company of Heathrow Airport Holdings, manager of the London airport, the largest in Europe by number of passengers and the fifth in the world.
The company has been present in the capital of the asset since 2006, when it entered the former BAA. Specifically, the group chaired by Rafael del Pino, together with the Canadian fund CDPQ and the Singaporean fund GIC , acquired the British airport operator for 10.3 billion pounds (more than 14.6 billion euros).
There was a time, BAA was the owner of seven airports in the United Kingdom (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton) and had stakes in others such as Budapest (Hungary), Naples (Italy) and Melbourne (Australia), while it also managed activities in Pittsburg, Boston-Logan and Indianapolis, in the United States.
"Ferrovial has been an active part of the aviation sector since 1998, becoming one of the companies with the most experience in the management and development of the main airports in the world. Ferrovial remains fully committed to the development of its airport business and to investing in the sector, in which it has a 50% stake in the Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports in the United Kingdom, 60% in Dalaman airport in Turkey and 49% in the New Terminal One of JFK airport of New York "
Saudi Arabian PIF added further,
"Under the terms of the agreement, PIF will acquire 10% in TopCo, and Ardian through its infrastructure funds will acquire 15% through separate vehicles."
" The transaction is subject to complying with ROFO (Right of First Offer) and full tag-along rights which may be exercised by the other Topco shareholders pursuant to the Shareholders’ Agreement and the Articles of Association of the company, in addition to satisfaction of applicable regulatory conditions."
For now, Qatar Holding will remain the largest shareholder of Heathrow airport, with 20%, ahead of Ardian, with 15%. So, after the new transaction, Qatar Holding will be the largest shareholder of Heathrow airport, with 20%, ahead of Ardian, with 15%, CDPQ, with 12.62%, GIC (11.20%), Australian Retirement Trust (11.18 %), China Investment Corporation (10.00%), USS (10.00%) and PIF (10%).
Saudi Arabian PIF says,
PIF is pleased to be investing in Heathrow, a world-class airport, which acts as a key gateway to the world. PIF’s investment in Heathrow is in line with its strategy to support the business as a long-term partner.
The sale occurs just six months after confirming the change of headquarters from Madrid to the Netherlands to be listed on the Euronext in Amsterdam as a preliminary step to making the leap to Wall Street .
Luke Bugeja, CEO of Ferrovial Aeropuertos, stated that
"Over the last 17 years as investors, we have contributed to the transformation of Heathrow, together with the rest of the shareholders, achieving great achievements. Among them, supervising an investment of 12 billion pounds, expanding its capacity with the construction of Terminal 2 and improving its operational performance. We are very pleased to have turned Heathrow into one of the most connected airports in the world and with the busiest airport in Europe. ".
Picture Courtesy : Heathrow Airport
