Le Gatwick: Majority stake in airport sold to FRENCH company as Brexit looms
IT’s Britain’s second-busiest airport after Heathrow, handling almost 44 million passengers a year – but with Brexit looming, a majority stake in Gatwick will soon be owned by a FRENCH company after it struck a £2.9billion deal.
The transaction represents a rare opportunity to acquire an airport of such size and quality
A statement issued today said: ”The transaction represents a rare opportunity to acquire an airport of such size and quality.”
Vinci has been expanding into faster growing and more profitable concessions such as airports and motorways, as well as in engineering projects for the energy industry, to counter signs of weakness elsewhere in the construction sector.
The French group is investing despite short-term uncertainty about the impact on travel of Britain's departure from the European Union at the end of March.
Gatwick made unwelcome headlines last week after drone sightings caused 36 hours of travel chaos for more than 100,000 Christmas travellers.
Gatwick Chief Executive Stewart Wingate, who will remain in his role, said the airport was learning lessons to avoid a repeat of the disruption.
He said: "While today's announcement marks an exciting moment in Gatwick's future, my team and I remain focused on doing everything we can to help ensure that travel runs as smoothly as possible for everyone over the rest of the festive period.”
It should be pointed out that even before the announcement, the airport was not British-owned.
Vinci is buying the stake in Gatwick from existing shareholders, and the remaining 49.99 percent minority will be managed by investment group Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
After the deal, GIP will halve its stake to 21 percent and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will be left with 7.9 percent.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System will retain 6.4 percent, the National Pension Service of Korea 6 percent and Australian sovereign wealth fund the Future Fund Board of Guardians will have 8.6 percent.
In the year to March 2018, Gatwick reported total revenue of 764 million pounds and handles around 46 million passengers annually.
The Gatwick deal follows Vinci's acquisition earlier this year of the airports management portfolio of Airports Worldwide, which allowed it to enter the United States and expand in Europe.