A French private equity group and a Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and will acquire a 38-percent stake in Heathrow.
Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, is owned by the consortium FGP Topco Limited with Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial holding the lead role with a 25-percent stake.
In November, Ferrovial said it was planning to offload its stake, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) taking 10 per cent and the other 15 per cent going to French private equity group Ardian.
But the deal had been blocked by a group of small FGP Topco shareholders who demanded they be allowed to sell their shares on the same terms under so-called “tag-along rights”.
“Ardian and PIF have made a revised offer to acquire shares representing 37.62 per cent of the share capital of FGP Topco” for GBP3.3 billion (USD4.1 billion), Ferrovial said, indicating it had accepted the bid.
Following further negotiations, Ferrovial said Ardian would acquire around 22.6 per cent of the shares and PIF would take 15 per cent.
Ferrovial, which specialises in transport infrastructure management operates a vast portfolio of global assets, including airport interests in Turkiye and New York.
Heathrow was not seen as a core asset by Ferrovial.
It bought its stake in Heathrow in a 2006 takeover and initially held 56 per cent of the hub, before gradually reducing its interest.
Chaired by Rafael Del Pino – the third richest man in Spain, with a fortune valued at USD6.1 billion by the American magazine Forbes – the group had initially wanted to sell its entire stake in FGP Topco.
