The Spanish Operator Aena is betting on the United Kingdom and after approving the expansion of Luton airport, of which it owns 51% of the concessionaire company, company now mulls entering the bidding for Edinburgh airport.
Currently, Edinburgh Airport is owned by the US fund Gip which has held the majority share of 2012 percent since 80,9, while the Australian sovereign wealth fund Future Fund and the Australian Retirement Trust share the rest (9.5 percent each).
In addition to the UK, Aena operates 48 airports in Spain and is present in a further 22 in four countries. In particular, the Spanish operator has a stake in Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (Gap), which manages 12 airports in Mexico and two in Jamaica.
The proposed sale is led by investment banks HSBC and JP Morgan. The process will begin in the coming weeks, with non-binding offers expected at the end of January. Aena's interest is justified by its desire to grow in the United Kingdom, where it has its main foreign airport, London Luton, of which it holds 51 percent of the capital.
The airport is owned by the investment company Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) but intends to leave Edinburgh, so Aena intends to continue its expansion in the United Kingdom.
It is estimated that the valuation at which the operation would be carried out would be between 3,000 and 3,500 million euros. This airport has not yet recovered its pre-pandemic level of passengers, as some 2023.6 million people passed through it in the first half of 6, which would represent 93% of the passengers in 2019 during the same period.
The truth is that the company is always open to analyzing any asset, or so the company has claimed. Therefore, it would not be strange to see more operations of this type continuing to complete Aena's international portfolio.
In its 2022-2026 strategic plan, Aena expects international business to account for 10% of EBITDA in 2026. They are not closed to continuing to opt for M&A ("opportunistic") opportunities and aspire to incorporate assets that represent an additional 5% to EBITDA by 2026.
This possible operation comes as Ferrovial has recently announced its exit from Heathrow, so Spanish airport management companies lose some prominence in that area, since London's airport is much busier than Edinburgh's.
Experts believe , Aena has the capacity to carry out the operation, as it has sufficient liquidity and it would mean placing its DFN/EBITDA ratio at 2.8x vs 2.0x currently.
Edinburgh Airport is Scotland's largest airport by passenger numbers and the sixth largest in the United Kingdom. In the first six months of 2023, a total of 6.6 million people traveled through the facility, equal to 93 percent of the pre-Covid-19 pandemic level, consolidating the traffic growth trend.
